2024 Chicago train shooting
| 2024 Chicago train shooting | |
|---|---|
 CCTV footage of Davis walking alongside the train at Harlem station after the killings | |
| Location | Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°52′20″N 87°47′30″W / 41.8721°N 87.7916°W |
| Date | September 2, 2024 Approximately 5:30 a.m. (CDST UTC−05:00) |
| Target | Homeless people |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Weapons | Glock 9mm pistol |
| Deaths | 4 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Motive | Under investigation |
| Accused | Rhanni S. Davis |
On September 2, 2024, a mass shooting occurred aboard a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Blue Line train as it traveled between Oak Park station and Harlem station. Four people were killed at random. The alleged shooter was taken into custody and charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Background
[edit]The rate of violent crime aboard CTA trains rose sharply at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the rate of crime had since declined, the rate of crimes remained above pre-pandemic levels and gun-related robberies and attempts were at their highest level in the past decade other than 2022.
The CTA had increased spending on security from $23.9 million in 2022 to $65.2 million in 2024 and by the time of the attack the CTA had run $12.4 million over budget on security spending. The security spending since 2022 included agreements with police officers from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs to patrol the system as well as contracts awarded to private security firms Monterrey and Inter-Con Security to provide unarmed guards and another one with Action K-9 Security for dog teams. Chicago Police Department's public transport division also frequently patrolled the system at no cost to the CTA.
The CTA also employed around 33,000 cameras on its bus and train systems and the agency had also recently begun testing an AI-based program to detect brandished guns at train stations.[1]
Shooting and arrest
[edit]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 Glock 9mm 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.[2]
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.[3]
An autopsy report confirmed that one victim died from a gunshot to the abdomen, two died from multiple wounds each, and one died from a shot to the head. Six spent shell casings were found on the train.[4]
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.[4]
Victims
[edit]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.[3] 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.[5][2] Naming of the fourth victim, 52-year-old Sean Jones, was delayed pending the notification of his next of kin.[6][7] Collins had been shot once in the abdomen, Bihesi and Jones were shot multiple times, and Johnson was shot once in the head.[8]
Accused
[edit]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.[5] 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.[2] At the time of the attack Davis had been training in security and home health care.[8] Davis' charges may appear under varied names and they have been reported as using alternating gender identifiers, including culturally feminine names as well as culturally masculine names.[9]
Aftermath and response
[edit]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.[10] Forest Park Police deputy chief Christopher Chin condemned the attack and said that the attack appears to have been an isolated incident.[11]
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.[10] 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.[12] Illinois governor JB Pritzker said that "the broader question" of why there isn't enough security being provided on the CTA needed to be addressed, while state senator Ram Villivalam said that it would be "impossible" to vote for funding for the system "unless people are safe".[1]
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless advocates said that the attack emphasized the need for more resources and that those experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to violence.[13]
See also
[edit]- 2022 New York City Subway attack, a mass shooting which happened on a Brooklyn train
- 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting, a mass shooting which happened on a Garden City Park, New York train
References
[edit]- ^ a b Freishtat, Sarah; Mahr, Joe (September 8, 2024). "CTA boosted security spending, but violent crime rate remains above pre-pandemic levels". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
- ^ a b c Lutz, BJ; Medina, Andrea; Flores, Christine; Tumulty, Brónagh; Bradley, Ben (September 3, 2024). "Blue Line shooting: No provocation before masked shooter opened fire, source says". WGN-TV. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Hernandez, Alex V. (September 3, 2024). "Chicago Man Charged In Killing Of 4 People On Blue Line In Forest Park". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Kaufman, Elyssa; Machi, Sara; Thompson, Carol; Molina, Tara (September 4, 2024). "Suspect charged in shooting that killed 4 sleeping people on CTA Blue Line train". CBS News. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- ^ a b "Murder charges filed in deadly CTA Blue Line shooting in Forest Park, police announce". WMAQ-TV. September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ Hernandez, Cindy (September 7, 2024). "Forest Park police identify final victim killed in Blue Line shooting". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
- ^ Lagatta, Eric; Arshad, Minnah (September 4, 2024). "Chicago man charged in fatal shooting of 4 sleeping on train near Forest Park: police". USA Today. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Minor, Jasmine; Horng, Eric (September 5, 2024). "CTA Blue Line shooting suspect denied pretrial release after 4 killed on train in Forest Park". WLS-TV. Retrieved September 5, 2024. (subscription required)
- ^ Schuba, Tom; Hendrickson, Matthew; Sherry, Sophie; Camarillo, Emmanuel; Heather, Kade (September 4, 2024). "Motive unknown in fatal shooting of 4 on Blue Line — 'Sometimes truly horrific, heinous acts have no answer'". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
- ^ a b CTA Blue Line shooting: Four dead after being shot while sleeping, mayor says (Video). WGN-TV. September 2, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Elyssa; Ramos, Andrew; Molina, Tara; Feurer, Todd; Rezaei, Asal (September 3, 2024). "4 people shot and killed on Chicago-area Blue Line train, suspect in custody". CBS News. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ Mordacq, Jessica (September 6, 2024). "Forest Park calls for resources following Blue Line shooting". Forest Park Review. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- ^ Shepherd, Carrie (September 6, 2024). "Fatal shooting on Chicago train demands more attention on unhoused, advocates say". Axios. Retrieved March 22, 2025.