Man fatally shot near West Loop homeless encampment

A man was found shot and wounded early Thursday near the intersection of North Clinton Street and West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop. He later died. Ald. Bill Conway says the shooting was the result of a “drug deal gone bad.” (Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)

Ald. Bill Conway (34th) and some of his West Loop constituents said they are alarmed but not surprised that a man was shot and killed in what Conway called a “magnet” area for violent crime and drugs near a homeless encampment early Thursday.

The 59-year-old man was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest in the 500 block of West Lake Street. Police say he was shot a quarter of a mile away in the 100 block of North Clinton Street about 1 a.m.