A devoted Evanston father was walking with his young daughter when he was fatally shot during a confrontation Thursday night in a park in the north suburb, police said.
Officers were sent to the 2100 block of McCormick Boulevard, at Isabella Butler Park — not far from the Ladd Arboretum — along the North Shore Channel around 9:05 p.m., authorities said in a Twitter thread with information about the shooting. When police arrived, Servando Hamros was found lying “in the park along the canal,” officials said. “The victim is deceased.”
Hamros, 29, of Evanston, was dead at 9:24 p.m. at the shooting scene, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
During a Friday afternoon news conference at the fire station, Cmdr. Ryan Glew of the Evanston Police Department said Hamros was walking through the park with one of his daughters and had what appeared to be a confrontation with at least one other person. He was shot following the confrontation.
Hamros is the father of two young girls, ages 7 and 10, according to his mother, Dawn Hamros, who said she was at the park during the shooting but did not witness the attack.
“The initial investigation indicates the victim had a confrontation with an unknown number of (people). Shots were fired, striking the victim,” police said on Twitter. Then the shooter or shooters “fled the scene on foot.”
Hamros’ daughter was physically uninjured. She contacted family members at the time, alerting them of the shooting.
“He was a funny guy. He was just great,” said his mom. “He loved his daughters. His whole world was his daughters. That’s why he was out here.”
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In a social media post at 10:10 p.m. Thursday, the Evanston Police Department said it was “not an active shooter” situation, but warned residents “to remain indoors for the next several hours & report suspicious activity.” The precautions were taken “due to the fact armed (suspects) fled on foot and are not in custody,” the post said.
Roads in the area also were closed off and authorities said there would “be a significant police presence for most of the night.”
The fatal shooting remains under investigation by Evanston police in conjunction with the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force. No suspects were in custody and no arrests had been made as of Friday afternoon.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is encouraged to call the Evanston police at 847-866-5040 or to 27463 and beginning the text with EPDTIP.
“This is just so senseless. There’s no point to this,” said Hamros’ mother. “They need to be brought to justice.”