Deadly shooting outside Cantigny Post VFW in Joliet

A 40-year-old man was shot to death outside the Cantigny Post 367 Veterans of Foreign Wars hall while a party was being held inside Saturday night.

The victim has been identified as Aaron E. Harris of Joliet.

Harris was shot multiple times sometime before 9:40 p.m., Joliet police said.

One stray bullet went through the kitchen wall of a neighboring house, where the owner said he was lucky not to have been hit.

Video from a security camera at the home of another neighbor showed a few people creeping around vehicles in the parking lot on the side of the VFW hall before Harris was shot.

The Cantigny post at 826 Horseshoe Drive may be the most familiar veterans social hall in Joliet, a spot where people for decades have rented the upstairs banquet room for wedding receptions, anniversary parties and political campaign events.

There was an event at the banquet hall at the time of the shooting, post Cmdr. Lou Smith said.

“There was a party upstairs last night,” Smith said. “This person was invited to the party, I guess. And outside in the parking lot, he was shot and killed. That’s all we know.”

Smith said there may have been 15 to 20 shots fired, and bullets damaged several vehicles in the parking lot.

One bullet went across the street and through the wall of the kitchen where Miguel Ibarra was sitting at a table doing paperwork.

“Actually, it almost hit me,” Ibarra said Sunday. “I noticed it was just over my head.”

The bullet continued through the window of a patio door, leaving a hole. The weakened window later shattered completely.

Ibarra said he talked with police, who took pictures of the bullet holes Saturday night for evidence.

“The officer told me, ‘Buy a lottery ticket tomorrow. You were lucky,’ ” Ibarra said.

Ibarra said he heard five or six shots and then another round of shots. Based on the sounds of the shots, he thought two guns may have been fired.

Officers were dispatched to the VFW post about 9:40 p.m. and found the wounded man in the parking lot, police said.

Harris was transported to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead at 10:08 p.m., according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Police did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting other than to confirm that “a private social event” was being held at the VFW hall at the time.

But a neighbor with a security camera had video showing what appear to be a few people creeping around the parking lot before a flare of gunfire is seen at a stairway leading to a side exit of the VFW hall.

Someone appearing to be the shooting victim moves to a vehicle where he goes down, and another person is seen running up to him and then away.

The shooting marked another violent crime in what had been considered safe sections of the city.

On Thursday, police investigated a noon incident of shots fired from one vehicle at another at Springfield Avenue and Douglas Street, a location about four blocks away from AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center. No one appeared to have been hit.

Residents from the Cathedral Area, one of Joliet’s most prestigious older neighborhoods, came to the Joliet City Council meeting less than two weeks ago to plead for action against an increasing number of drive-by shootings near their homes.

And in June, two women were injured by shattered glass when a suspect fired what police said was a gun modified to a fully automatic weapon into their vehicle at Six Corners, one of the city’s busiest intersections located about a block east of Horseshoe Drive.

Police said they are continuing to investigate the Cantigny VFW shooting and urged anyone with information related to the incident to call Joliet Police Department investigations unit at 815-724-3020. They can also contact Will County Crime Stoppers at 800-323-6734 or online at https://crimestoppersofwillcounty.org if they wish to remain anonymous.