Guy Asks for Directions, Is Shot Dead

An Arkansas man who police say got lost driving around Chicago was shot and killed today, apparently by a man he had just asked for directions. According to police, a man identified by the Cook County Coroner's office as 55-year-old Robert Franklin, of Blytheville, Ark., was with a friend in a car about 3:45am when a man that Franklin had asked for directions climbed into the backseat and pulled out a gun. Officer Jose Estrada said the gunman robbed the men of cash and "as he is getting out he turns around and shoots (Franklin) four times in the back." The Sun-Times notes Franklin was sitting in the passenger seat.

Estrada said Franklin's friend drove him to Stroger Hospital, where Franklin was pronounced dead a short time after he arrived. Police had made no arrests as of this afternoon, nor had they identified the suspect or determined exactly where in the city the shooting occurred. (More shooting stories.)