Officials are investigating a man found dead in Cornell Park on Friday afternoon. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

HYDE PARK — Curtis Nowells, 33, was shot and killed in Cornell Park in Hyde Park Friday afternoon, officials and witnesses said.

About 2:50 p.m., the man was walking in the park, 5473 S. Cornell Ave., when a man wearing a mask walked up to him from behind and fired shots at the man, police said. The victim, 33, was hit in his head and was hit multiple times in his back and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooter ran away north on Cornell, police said.

The man was identified as Nowells in Cook County Medical Examiner's Office records.

A woman parking her car near the park said the man, who was not immediately identified, was standing in the park when a gunman wearing a black ski mask fired five to six rounds from a black handgun at him from about 15 feet away.

A neighbor said he was out on his porch with his dog when he heard about a half-dozen shots.

"I heard the shots and got the dog inside," he said.

The neighbor said he saw a man in a blue jacket run to a green, four-door Chevrolet Corsica. The woman described the jacket as a black or blue hoodie. The car went north on Cornell, he said.

Chicago Police officials said they were investigating a man found unresponsive, police said, but no further information was immediately available.

At the scene, relatives of the man gathered but declined to comment.

"Everything was great over here until today," the neighbor said.

Said the woman: "I'm very shocked. The kind of low level stuff that goes on around the neighborhood we are all used to and we think we are dealing with it. But to have a murder in our park is shocking."

Neighbors have spent a lot of time fixing up the park in last two years and there is a play area frequently used by families with children.

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