Chicago Train Victims Were Shot in Their Sleep

'For people to feel unsafe, it's justified,' says Forest Park deputy chief
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 3, 2024 6:11 AM CDT
Victims on Chicago Train Were Sleeping
Forest Park Deputy Chief Christopher Chin, right, stands outside the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after giving a news conference about four people who were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024.   (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The four people fatally shot on a Chicago transit train early Monday were sleeping and may have been homeless. Surveillance video shows the victims were asleep in two cars of a Blue Line train that was headed into the Forest Park terminal west of Chicago, the last stop on the line. Three were in one car, and the fourth in another. "We don't know for sure what [the victims'] social status is" but "looking at the videos, they were asleep on the train," Forest Park Deputy Chief Chris Chin tells CNN. Police say three victims were killed at the scene, while the fourth died at a hospital, per CBS News. They have not been publicly identified.

Authorities believe it was a random attack. The suspected shooter likely left the train at the Harlem stop. He was arrested about 90 minutes later on the Pink Line, police say, adding that a firearm was recovered. "Although this was an isolated incident, this heinous and egregious act of violence should never have occurred," the Chicago Transit Authority said in a statement. "It is uncommon here to have a mass shooting like this, especially this close to home that we're actually investigating on a holiday. So, for people to feel unsafe, it's justified," added Chin.

Hours after the shooting, another transit passenger was seriously injured in a stabbing on the Red Line, CNN reports. After a verbal altercation, the assailant pulled out a "sharp object" and repeatedly stabbed the 37-year-old victim, who was initially listed in critical condition at a hospital, police say. A suspect has yet to be found. (More Chicago stories.)

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