South Side bouncer describes a shot of a very scary kind
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In searing pain from a gunshot to the groin, Mark Ferguson tore after a belligerent bar-goer who had just fired indiscriminately into an East Carson Street crowd.
It was early Sunday, about 2 a.m. People were spilling out of bars and onto the street, where a fight outside Town Tavern had them momentarily captivated. Three men were swapping punches, a scuffle that ended when one of them pulled a gun and fired.
The shooter ran.
"I got shot, and me and one of the people who work at the bar, we started chasing him," said Mr. Ferguson, who manages security at the popular South Side nightspot. "We didn't want him to get away."
They darted into an alley.
"He stopped and turned and pointed a gun at us," Mr. Ferguson said. "We ducked behind cars. He threw the gun and kept running."
Police officers, too, overheard the gunshots -- three or four of them -- and took off toward the man, according to an officer's written account of the night. Police finally captured him near 20th and Sidney streets, where police said Mr. Ferguson, still bleeding from his right thigh, pointed to the man and said, "That's the guy who shot me. I'm 100 percent sure."
Police identified the man as 27-year-old George J. Morgan of Baldwin Borough and charged him with aggravated assault, tampering with evidence and three counts of reckless endangerment, one for each of the people police say he shot while aiming for just one man.
The other two gunshot victims, Kelly Klenotic and Lindsay Green, were also struck in the legs, police said, their injuries were not life-threatening. They couldn't be reached for comment.
Mr. Ferguson on Monday described the chaotic cap to an otherwise standard South Side Saturday night, which he said could have ended up much worse.
Minutes before the gunfire, Mr. Ferguson and other bouncers had ordered the last of the lingering bar patrons out the door. Two stragglers, Mr. Morgan, and a friend, Matthew Emery, took their time finishing their drinks. They were in no hurry to leave, Mr. Ferguson said.
First Published August 31, 2010 12:00 am
