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.