Boy, 16, becomes Rockford's first homicide victim of the year

ROCKFORD —

Andre Ausler, a 16-year-old Rockford boy, was killed early today in the city’s first homicide of the year.

Rockford police Deputy Chief Greg Lindmark said officers responded to a call of guns being fired at 1:25 a.m. at the Auburn Manor apartment complex in the 4000 block of Auburn Street.

Officers found the teen lying in a first-floor hallway. Ausler was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:40 a.m.

An autopsy performed this morning confirmed Ausler was killed by a gunshot wound. The coroner’s office would not say where the teen was shot or how many times.

Toxicology results will be available in two weeks. The Rockford Police Department is investigating the homicide.

“It appears this man and others were in the hallway of the apartment building when an argument ensued and shots were fired,” Lindmark said.

The teen is a Rockford resident, Lindmark said, but does not live in Auburn Manor.

No arrests have been made.

Lindmark said police are in the process of talking to individuals who were at the scene.

The teenager’s death comes just two days after Winnebago County sheriff’s police discovered the body of a 38-year-old man in a car in the Gem Suburban Trailer Park.

That man, Felix Rojas Perez, was killed from a gunshot wound to the head. He is the county’s first homicide victim of the year.

Police were called to the trailer park, 4650 S. Main St., at 9:25 a.m. Friday in reference to a deceased male in a vehicle. An autopsy conducted Saturday indicated that Perez was killed within 24 hours of when his body was discovered.

No arrests have been made.