Two Blue Island men charged in shootings

August 7, 2008
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BY WILLIAM LEE, staff writer

Two admitted gang members have been charged with shooting two people Sunday in Robbins in what police suspect may have been a racially motivated attack.

A Cook County judge on Wednesday ordered Mario Bravo, 24, held on $800,000 bail and Ulises Alvarado, 17, on $500,000, the state's attorney's office said.

Bravo and Alvarado, both of Blue Island, are charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting.

Robbins police said Bravo randomly fired a .38-caliber revolver from the passenger seat of a Chevrolet Suburban at a group of black people in the 13500 block of Clare Boulevard about 11:30 p.m.

The shots struck a 17-year-old boy in the chest and a 30-year-old man in the shoulder. The teen remained in critical condition Wednesday at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, while the other victim was treated and released, according to Robbins police.

They said they stopped the Suburban about two blocks from the shootings and arrested four people, including Bravo and Alvarado.

Police said Bravo gave a handwritten statement, admitting shooting the victims because he thought they were rival gang members.

But police suspect that the motive might have been racial more than gang-related.

Police Sgt. Dion Kimble said the accused men are Hispanic while both victims, who had no known gang ties, are black.

"They shot at any black person they saw on the street that night," Kimble said of Bravo and Alvarado.

A state's attorney office spokesman could not confirm that claim.

William Lee can be reached at wlee@southtownstar.com or (70 633-6747.

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