Soldier slain in crossfire near Chicago

HARVEY, Ill., July 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. soldier home on a furlough was shot and killed by crossfire in suburban Chicago, family members say.

Simeon Sanders, 21, was slain Thursday night in Harvey, Ill., as he walked with his cousin after stopping at a restaurant and heard men arguing on a nearby street corner, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday.

Family members told the newspaper Sanders and his cousin crossed the street to avoid trouble, but the soldier was struck by an errant bullet after gunfire erupted. They said Sanders had been studying engineering at Tennessee State University when he decided to follow his sister into the U.S. Army.

"He signed up while he was there because he knew we couldn't change his mind," his mother, Shannon Sanders, said, adding her son continued his engineering studies in the Army and was going to Fort Bragg, N.C., before a possible transfer to Korea.