Breaking: 19-year-old Joliet man shot and killed overnight

A 19-year-old Joliet man was shot and killed Friday morning, only three months after his cousin was gunned down in a similar manner.

Keonte A. Cook was pronounced dead about 3 a.m. Friday in the 1400 block of North Center Street in Joliet, according to a news release from the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Cook suffered a gunshot wound, and Joliet police are treating the death as a homicide, a coroner’s office official said.

Cook was sitting in the back seat of a car parked on the apron of a driveway when someone opened fire from between two houses across the street about 11:45 p.m. Thursday, Deputy Police Chief Ed Gregory said.

Multiple shots were fired and at least one went through the windshield of the car and hit Cook, Gregory said.

Another young man who was sitting in the car was not injured, Gregory said.

Officers canvassed the area for witnesses and surveillance video, and some witnesses were questioned Friday morning.

“This appears not to be a random incident,” Gregory said. “There may be some relationship between the shooter and the individuals in the vehicle. We’re not sure yet. It was definitely not random.”

Cook’s aunt, Latasha Allen, said her son, Cook and one of their friends pulled into the driveway about five minutes before the shooting.

Her son walked over to a nearby bar, the Crow’s Nest Tavern, and “heard six or seven shots, and my nephew was shot in the head,” Allen said.

Another of Allen's sons, Kaprice Griffin, was killed in Chicago three months ago. He also was 19.

“He was killed in the same way,” Allen said. “He was sitting in the car when they shot him. Keonte took that death very hard.”

Cook leaves behind two children and a pregnant girlfriend, Allen said. Allen blamed his death on “these dumb--- kids who don’t have no remorse, no feelings. I don’t even know.”

“This generation don’t know how to fight like we grew up,” she said. “Nowadays these kids want to shoot and run.”

Several firearm-related arrests were made Thursday night in the area of Theodore and North Center streets, near the 1400 block of North Center Street, according to arrest logs.

Shadon D. McDonald, 24, of the 1100 block of Vine Street in Joliet, faces weapons charges, as does Jeremiah Gavin, 20, of the 2100 block of Arthur Avenue in Lockport. Both were arrested about 10 p.m. Friday.

Gregory said the arrests were the result of a search warrant and were unrelated to the fatal gun attack.

An autopsy for Cook was scheduled to be performed Friday.