A 20-year-old Evanston man was fatally shot in the 1300 block of Darrow Avenue shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Evanston Police responding to a call of shots fired found the man, who’d been shot in the head and torso. Police spokesman Perry Polinski says the victim was transported to Evanston NorthShore University Hospital for treatment where he died about two hours later.
Crime scene tape draped both sides of the block.
Update 10:15 a.m.: Police this morning identified the victim as Benjamin Bradford-Mandujano.
Reports indicate he had been arrested last February on a burglary charge and in April 2014 on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon.
His last known address was at 1306 Darrow Ave.
Evanston Police detectives along with the North Regional Major Crime Task Force are investigating the homicide.
Polinski says a preliminary investigation indicates the victim was the intended target of the shooting.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact the Evanston Police Department detective bureau at 847-866-5040 or use text-a-tip by sending EPD TIP with the tip information to 274637 (CRIMES) on cellular phones capable of texting.
more to your story
Bill- rather than only printing the name, address and past criminal charges of this young victim please note the following from Curts Cafe's Facebook page this morning;
fromCurts Facebook Page
We at the Curt's Cafe family have suffered a devastating and senseless loss. Last night one of our extraordinary students, Bejamin "Bo" Bradford was tragically murdered. Just before his murder he was a participant in the New Trier MLK day program and we were set to celebrate his recent accomplishment of obtaining his food certification.
We are asking the community to make a financial contribution to assist his mother, Deborah Caluya and his family with burial cost and any other associated expenses. Checks can be made out in the name of his mother, Deborah Caluya, and will be accepted at Curt's Cafe North or South.
We are also asking the community to awaken to the senseless loss of life and human potential in our community. We are asking that you wrap your arms around the Bradford-Caluya family and the Curt's Cafe family at this critical time in our lives and the broader Evanston community.
Shooting in Evanston
I want to mirror Dickelle's comments….I knew this young man, and he should be remembered for his true inner light. This is a tragic loss to many of us who knew and loved him, and many of his friends.
A true inner light, and a
A true inner light, and a devasting loss are not typically associated with someone who committed buglary less than a year ago and who involved himself with gun violence to the point where he became a target. makes me wonder about the whole Curt's Cafe project that they cannot separate their laudable ambitions from a clear failure. Good programs will always have some failures but they need to be acknowledged as such
Past mistakes
I donn't really know or care what this young man's past mistakes may have been. I am sure he wasn't selected to participate in the Curt's Cafe program without being vetted . The young man was targeted because of his loose association with someone belonging to a rival street gang, of that of the shooter. This was not a gang banger but a kid who wa trying to walk a good path in spite of a troubled past. It's shameful that someone would try to take advantage of this tragedy to highlight the so called "failures" of a program that is designed to serve at risk youth.
I wonder if you can
imagine a community where being charged with a crime at 19 does not cut you off from all hope for a future, where getting shot dead in the streets does not qualify as being involved in gun violence, and where losing a neighbor you risked reaching out to help does not make your program a failure.
You can get shot at 9pm on Tuesday…
But at least Evanston has enacted an assault weapons ban and zoned out gun shops/ranges… Whew! That makes me feel so much better. I already feel safe thanks to common-sense gun control! /s
No time for crimes?
I'm confused, he was working at Curt's Cafe and not in jail serving time for his crimes? It's a very sad story.
There are both good people
There are both good people and bad people that get shot from time to time. I don't think yhere is anybody that knows which one this kid is.
Right or wrong
Curt's Cafe is a social experiment. Sometimes experiments can go awry.
Benjamin Mandujano-Bradford
I knew "Bo" when he was much younger, he was a good soul that I felt even then (he was only 8 or 9) had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He did not deserve to die, and clearly he was turning his life around. It is so easy to "judge" , not so easy to understand that we all come from vastly different circumstances. My prayers go out to his family and to our community as a whole, we cannot our young people being gunned down on our streets.