CHICAGO — Those who live near the street corner where a mob yanked two men from their van and fatally beat them following a traffic accident say the area was the scene of frequent skirmishes.
"This corner was a powder keg," said the Rev. Bamani Obadele, who lives nearby. "Every night you can come out here and there's 20 to 30 young people sitting out here. Every other night people are fighting."
Anthony Stuckey, 49, and Jack Moore, 62, were in a rental van Tuesday evening that swerved over a curb and plowed into people gathered on a stoop, police said. Three women remained hospitalized Thursday, one in critical condition.
As the injured lay on the ground, an angry mob pulled the two men from the van and beat them to death with their hands, feet, bricks and stones, police said.
Police had a suspect in custody Wednesday night, but no charges had been filed. Superintendent Terry Hillard asked for help from the public in finding others who were involved.
Police said they did not know what caused the van to veer off the street. Authorities called it an accident and described Stuckey and Moore as innocent victims.
"This is a simple, senseless, double homicide committed by a bunch of cowardly thugs, and these murderers will be brought to justice," Hillard said.
Autopsies showed that Stuckey and Moore died from multiple injuries and blunt trauma, a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said. It was not clear who was driving.
The van ran up onto William Williams' front steps. Williams, 89, has lived in the Victorian-style home for 31 years and said the Oakland neighborhood on Chicago's South Side has declined as many of the homes have been torn down.
"We used to have block clubs and take kids out to the lakefront, but people here now aren't interested in doing all of that," Williams said.
But Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, who represents the area, said the neighborhood is getting better.
"It has struggled for decades with demolition and abandonment, gang and drug activity," she said. "In the last five or six years, there's been a lot of change, new construction and renovation of existing properties."
Many in the area expressed shock at the attacks. Cornell Ousley said it's a close-knit community where people look out for one another.
"Two wrongs don't make it right," he said. "You do something to one person down here, you did it to the whole community."
Julia Mitchell, 29, who lives across the street from Williams, rushed to the scene after hearing sirens. She saw Stuckey, Moore and three injured women on the ground.
"I think everybody's pretty repulsed. It was just a horrible display of abuse," Mitchell said. "Nobody's trying to condone what happened."
Virginia Stuckey, 72, said her son was helping Moore move some items from an apartment. Police said Moore was driving.
Three people struck by the van remained hospitalized. Shauna Lawrence, 26, was in critical condition Thursday and Jenny Lawrence, 18, was in fair condition with a facial injury. Both were at Mount Sinai Hospital. A 17-year-old girl was in fair condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.