The family of an Irishman shot dead in Chicago at the weekend plan to take his body home to Ireland for a funeral after a memorial service in Chicago.
Aspiring actor Mr Barry Cunnane (27) was shot in the head in a seemingly random and unprovoked attack in Chicago, police said. Mr Cunnane, from Dublin, was walking with a friend about 1.30 a.m. on Saturday when they passed two men, police said.
According to the friend, who asked that his name be withheld, one of the men turned around, said something like "What's up?" and shot Mr Cunnane in the back of the head.
"They weren't waiting for a response," the friend said. "They weren't trying to engage us in conversation. . . . And as soon as it happened, they disappeared.
"It wasn't a robbery. It was, 'I'm going to kill somebody for no reason.'"
Mr Cunnane's mother told the Chicago Tribune: "He wouldn't hurt a fly. He was a very, very gentle boy."
Mr Cunnane, who worked in sales for the American Medical Association, was pronounced dead at he scene. He had moved to Chicago as a result of its vibrant theatre scene.
The shooting occurred in the Ravenswood neighbourhood on Chicago's Northwest Side, an area not known for violent crime.