Surveillance footage captured the suspected shooter, 30-year-old Rhanni S. Davis, boarding the Red Line at 3:50 am before transferring to a Blue Line train bound for Forest Park station at around 4:30 am. Davis was seen carrying a black North Face messenger bag and prosecutors allege they were armed with the Glock9mm pistol used in the attack at this time.
At around 5 am as the train passed through the Oak Park area, surveillance footage in the train captured a person walking between two adjoining train cars and fatally shooting four people execution-style. A surveillance camera then captured a passenger jumping out of the train as it reached Harlem station and fleeing before the shooter also exited the train and left the station at 5:05 am.[1]
The train continued on to Forest Park station before it was stopped and CTA custodial staff discovered three of the four victims aboard the train. At 5:27 am, the Forest Park Police Department received a call that three people had been shot on a Blue Line train at Forest Park station. Responding officers found four people with gunshot wounds, three of whom were pronounced dead at the scene and the fourth was transported to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where they were pronounced dead.[2]
About 15 minutes after the shooting, Davis returned to the Blue Line and boarded a train headed for The Loop. Over an hour after the discovery of the bodies, a CTA employee at the California station on the Pink Line spotted Davis and phoned the Chicago Police Department; Davis was arrested at 6:52 am.[3]
Victims
The four shooting victims, all of whom were sleeping at the time of the attack, were seated separately. Three of the victims were located in one train car while another was seated in an adjoining car. The victims are not believed to have any connection to the shooter and appear to have been attacked at random.[2] Three victims have been identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office: 60-year-old Adrian Collins, 28-year-old Simeon Bihesi, and 64-year-old Margaret Johnson.[4][1] Naming of the fourth victim, 52-year-old Sean Jones, was delayed pending the notification of his next of kin.[5][6] Collins had been shot once in the abdomen, Bihesi and Jones were shot multiple times, and Johnson was shot once in the head.[7]
Accused
The Forest Park Police Department identified the suspect as 30-year-old Rhanni S. Davis, a resident of Chicago. Davis was charged with four counts of first-degree murder.[4] Davis allegedly wore a mask as they opened fire on their four victims and there was no provocation before they did so. Davis had a criminal background and had been charged with various offenses, including one in Nashville, Tennessee as well as for multiple weapons offenses in Chicago.[1] At the time of the attack Davis had been training in security and home health care.[7] Davis's charges may appear under varied names. Davis has been reported as using alternating gender identifiers, including culturally feminine names as well as culturally masculine names.[8]
Aftermath and response
The Blue Line was temporarily shut down between the Forest Park and Austin stations, with shuttle buses remaining available for transportation between the two stations.
The CTA president, Dorval Carter, condemned the incident and called it a "heinous and egregious act of violence" and thanked the Forest Park Police Department and Chicago Police Department for their role in apprehending the suspect.[9] Forest Park Police Deputy Chief Christopher Chin condemned the attack and said that the attack appears to have been an isolated incident.[10]
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins requested for additional state resources to be put towards train security, saying that the "number of responses have increased exponentially". Hoskins said that if the suspect had not been apprehended sooner that he believed that there could have been more loss of life and that the White House had reached out to him and offered support through the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.[9] Illinois State Representative La Shawn Ford, who represents the area, released a statement in which he condemned the attack and also called for increased security on CTA trains.
