A CTA employee of nearly two decades was shot and killed near a Red Line facility on the South Side early Monday, and a $10,000 reward has been offered for information about his killing.
Thomas Kevin Barlow, 57, was fatally shot about 4:15 a.m. Monday in the 9900 block of South State Street, outside of the CTA’s 98th Street rail maintenance facility. Responding CPD officers discovered him on the pavement with a gunshot wound to his chest, according to police.
“Our hearts are broken by the loss of our beloved son, father, brother, and friend. He lived a life defined by kindness, service, and quiet strength,” Barlow’s family said in a statement to the Tribune. “A proud CTA employee, he loved his work and was always the first to lend a helping hand to coworkers and passengers alike.”
“We will forever cherish his love, his example, and the countless lives he touched,” the family added.
Cook County Crime Stoppers announced a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to an arrest. No one was in custody for the shooting Tuesday morning, according to a Chicago police spokesperson.
Monica Miller, a close friend of Barlow’s for 10 years, remembered him as a kind and generous community pillar on the South Side who loved to play the card game Bid Whist. A member of the Prince Hall Masons and Shriners, Barlow would organize a Christmas toy drive for children in the area and help serve food to people in need.
“That’s his pet project,” Miller said. “He made sure all the children had toys.”
Barlow didn’t think twice to offer help to Miller after she was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, she said.
“I had to go through everything,” Miller told the Tribune. “Chemo, radiation, I was struggling physically. But he would come and help me with everything.”
“Anything you needed — and it wasn’t just for me — anything that anybody needed, you know?” she added.
After graduating from Mount Carmel High School in Woodlawn, Barlow attended Chicago State and Jackson State universities. He’s survived by an adult daughter and his father, Miller told the Tribune. Funeral services were not yet finalized, Miller said.
“One life lost is one too many. We cannot lose another, not one more person to gun violence in Chicago,” Pennie McCoach, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 President, said Monday, according to WGN.
