Arkansas man fatally shot in Chicago

CHICAGO — Police say an Arkansas man was shot dead in Chicago by a man he stopped to ask for directions.

The shooting occurred early Thursday. The Cook County medical examiner identified the victim as 55-year-old Robert Franklin of Blytheville.

Police spokesman Officer Jose Estrada said the man Franklin asked for directions climbed in the backseat and robbed Franklin and a friend at gunpoint.

Estrada said the suspect left the car and shot Franklin four times in the back.

Franklin's friend drove him to a hospital around 4 a.m. Franklin was pronounced dead minutes later.

Estrada said nobody's in custody. Detectives are trying to determine where the shooting occurred.

Violent crime is down in Chicago compared with last year, when homicides surged past 500 for the first time since 2008.

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