Passenger Trains > Four people killed on CTA train in Forest Park IL

Seems the Blue Line is pretty rough these days...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/02/4-killed-in-shooting-on-cta-blue-line-train-in-forest-park-police-say/

PAYWALL. Ross Rowland

Here you go, Ross

4 killed in shooting on CTA Blue Line train in Forest Park https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ctc-l-four-dead-blue-line-09_204392470.jpg?w=530Police investigators work inside a CTA Blue Line train parked at the Forest Park station on Sept. 2, 2024. Four passengers were fatally shot between the Austin and Forest Park stations early Monday, police say. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Sam-Charles.jpeg?w=85https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Christy-Gutowski.jpeg?w=85By Sam Charles | scharles@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune and Christy Gutowski | cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com | Chicago TribuneUPDATED: September 2, 2024 at 6:56 p.m. A suspect is in custody after four people were fatally shot in an early morning Labor Day shooting on a Blue Line train in Forest Park, marking the deadliest incident of gun violence on a CTA train in decades — possibly ever.Police in the west suburban village said they responded at 5:27 a.m. Monday to a 911 call that multiple people were shot on a train at the Forest Park Blue Line station, 711 Desplaines Ave.Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and a fourth shooting victim was pronounced dead soon after at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The ages and identities of the victims were not immediately disclosed, but the Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed the four fatalities.https://i0.wp.com/www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ctc-l-four-dead-blue-line-04_204392422.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1Police vehicles are parked outside the CTA Forest Park station on Sept. 2, 2024. Four passengers were fatally shot on a Blue Line train between the Austin and Forest Park stations early Monday, police say. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)Authorities said they were able to get a description of the alleged shooter after reviewing video surveillance. Chicago police later apprehended a suspect on the Pink Line. A weapon was recovered, according to Forest Park police.Police said the shooting was an “isolated incident” and occurred while the train was moving. All of the victims were passengers, according to authorities.No further details were released about the suspect as of late Monday.Hours after the shooting, Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins called the violence “an outlier,” but added that the village’s first responders are frequently dispatched to the Blue Line station. Hoskins also called for more safety resources at the station as part of any potential reorganization of local mass transit agencies.“To the extent that our leaders in Springfield are considering any kind of CTA-mass transit reorganization, we would ask them to consider investing additional resources in terms of safety, public safety, law enforcement personnel, what have you, to support a small community like Forest Park that has to respond to two major train lines ending in Forest Park,” Hoskins said.In a prepared statement, CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. called the shooting the “definition of a heinous crime and tragedy” and said all current information points to it being an isolated incident.“We extend our condolences to those who lost their loved ones as a result of this senseless act of crime – our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Carter said. “The safety and security of our riders and employees is and remains our No. 1 priority.”In a separate statement Monday, a CTA spokesperson said the agency “immediately deployed resources to assist the Forest Park Police in their investigation into the matter, including review of all possible security camera footage, which proved to be vital in aiding local enforcement”The shooting was the first multi-victim homicide to occur on a CTA train in at least 30 years, according to city violence data, and it was the first fatal shooting of the year on a CTA train or at a station. One other homicide occurred in January at the Roosevelt station in the South Loop, records show.The mass shooting occurred less than a week after the CTA announced an AI-based program that seeks to more quickly notify police when guns are detected at CTA train stations.Blue Line train service was suspended between the Forest Park and Austin stations as police investigated.Local residents Cicely and Matt Gould said the shooting is not typical for their family-oriented town.“It’s pretty shocking because (the community) is so safe,” said Cicely Gould, who on Monday afternoon hung out at a local park with her husband and two daughters, Harlem, 4, and Harper, 2, before heading to get ice cream.“When I saw it online this morning, I read it out loud to (Matt). I mean, the shooting was literally right up the street from my house. But I wouldn’t say it’s a community thing. I feel very safe here. That’s where the end of the line is for the train, so it’s really busy.”Standing in the parking lot of the Forest Park Blue Line station on Monday afternoon, Logan Square resident Sean McNulty said he had to take a shuttle bus for the last part of his commute because service still was suspended between Austin and Forest Park.McNulty, who takes the Blue Line most mornings at 4 a.m. to get to his job at a Bensenville cabinet-making company, said he wasn’t surprised by the violence. Though his train typically is filled with other workers and folks catching an early morning flight at O’Hare, McNulty said he has seen gang and other criminal activity as a longtime commuter.“It’s mass transit,” he said, while puffing a cigarette. “It’s going to be full of all sorts of weird people. You just kind of get used to it. I keep my eyes open because I want to know what’s going on around me at all times.”  

•  

Per CNN the victims were all shot while they were sleeping and may have been homeless. Somebody watch the movie Death Wish too many times?

I stopped visiting Chicago as a destination in 2013, and stayed in the suburbs in 2017, using Metra and PACE to get around. My Ventra card has expired and I have no intention of going back. Too many shootings in the west loop and near North areas. There was a stabbing on a Red Line train, daytime, near Wilson on the north side on Labor Day. Victim in critical condition. 

I don't recall that many people murdered at one time on transit. Can anyone remember a worse incident?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/24 06:00 by ts1457.

LIRR massacre at Merillon Avenue in 1993 killed 6 and 19 seriously injured. The shooter is serving a life sentence. 
The 2 M-3 cars in the mixed M-1/M-3 12 car consist where the shooting occurred, are are still in service, but renumbered. 

Must be fake news.
Public Transit in Illinois is a gun-free zone.
Even those licensed by the great state of Illinois to carry a concealed firearm are forbidden to carry on public transport.
To own a firearm in the great state you most have a Firearms Owner I.D. card issued by the State Police.  The list of FOID holders
is run against the National Crime Information Center 360 days a year so that the FOID cars can be withdrawn in case of criminal activity.

Anyway a small price to pay to live in a vibrant, diverse, community like Chicago.
Great restaurants
The lake shore
Museums
Cultural events
The Mag Mile



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/24 06:26 by Englewood.

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PAYWALL. Ross Rowland

No PAYWALL here.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Must be fake news.
> Public Transit in Illinois is a gun-free zone.
> Even those licensed by the great state of Illinois
> to carry a concealed firearm are forbidden to
> carry on public transport.
> To own a firearm in the great state you most have
> a Firearms Owner I.D. card issued by the State
> Police.  The list of FOID holders
> is run against the National Crime Information
> Center 360 days a year so that the FOID cars can
> be withdrawn in case of criminal activity.
>
> Anyway a small price to pay to live in a vibrant,
> diverse, community like Chicago.
> Great restaurants
> The lake shore
> Museums
> Cultural events
> The Mag Mile

Yeah, there is similar stuff in Los Angeles, an hour drive from our Orange County home, but as I would never set foot in Chicago, NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, DC, etc. again, I don't visit L.A. anymore either.  If and when law & order is restored to these places, I'll reconsider them.  Until then, no way.

New York City has installed a network of fare inspector + police officer teams to control the fare beating problem on buses. Estimates place the "no pay" traffic at 48% of the passengers.  Two inspectors and two officers are alerted by a plain clothes officer on the bus. They board and remove the person, and "mark" a file of the boarding. Often by the back door.   The NY Times had an article on it last week.

Passengers are mixed in their opinions. Some appreciate the freeloaders being removed.  Others are concerned that many people removed are people of color, or that the process delays the already slow bus system. Police appreciate that some of the free riders are carrying illegal weapons, drugs, or have prior wants and warrants. That will get you cuffed and taken downtown.  Gun charges are not subject to NY law catch and release programs, in my understanding.

Other traffic specialists have been detailed to ticket, and call for tows of trucks and limos parked in designated bus lanes.

Some legitimate bus fare payers are being wrongly accused on SBS routes, which means Metrocard or cash customers pay at a bus stop box , something like a parking box, and you get a paper receipt to guard with your life until you get off. But OMNY fare payers tap when boarding like a regular bus route.

There is a "Fare-Cap" program when you hit so many dollars in a week, no more fare is collected. (https://new.mta.info/fares/omny/fare-capping). An Eagle team can detect when your OMNY or Bank card has been tapped and paid. If it hit max fare for the week, Eagle team cannot distinguish, they haul you off the bus, you get fined $100, and you must head to a court on your own dime and time to get that fixed. 

Until the stupid MTA can figure that out, I have no sympathy for the 48% of bus fares they are not collecting. OMNY no longer tracks Trip History ("Privacy"), another gem of MTA ineptitude. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/24 10:30 by joemvcnj.

Englewood Wrote:
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> Even those licensed by the great state of Illinois to carry a concealed firearm are forbidden to carry on public transport.

A Federal District Judge in Rockford, IL just ruled today that this prohibition is invalid given recent Supreme Court 2nd Amendment cases.  It's not clear if the ruling applies to just the four plaintiffs, or has broader applicability.  I'm sure it will be appealed; Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has already indicated he is considering doing so.  Political comment so far has focused on the judge's "conservative" leanings and that he obviously didn't get the memo that gun laws need to be tightened, not relaxed.

Article:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/federal-judge-rules-illinois-concealed-carry-law-can-t-prohibit-holders-from-having-guns-on-public-transportation/ar-AA1pWn8A?ocid=BingNewsSerp

illini73 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Englewood Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Even those licensed by the great state of
> Illinois to carry a concealed firearm are
> forbidden to carry on public transport.
>
> A Federal District Judge in Rockford, IL just
> ruled today that this prohibition is invalid given
> recent Supreme Court 2nd Amendment cases.  It's
> not clear if the ruling applies to just the four
> plaintiffs, or has broader applicability.  I'm
> sure it will be appealed; Illinois Attorney
> General Kwame Raoul has already indicated he is
> considering doing so.  Political comment so far
> has focused on the judge's "conservative" leanings
> and that he obviously didn't get the memo that gun
> laws need to be tightened, not relaxed.
>
> Article:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fede
> ral-judge-rules-illinois-concealed-carry-law-can-t
> -prohibit-holders-from-having-guns-on-public-trans
> portation/ar-AA1pWn8A?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Yup. Take the guns out of law abiding citizen's hands, and what happened on the CTA is exactly what you get. I guess the criminals either didn't get the "no guns allowed" memo, couldn't read it if they did, or just figured they were safe and can shoot the place up because no one else on there will have a gun. Makes perfect sense to me.

The victims chosen were all asleep when shot. It would not matter if they packed heat or not.

Posted from Android

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The victims chosen were all asleep when shot. It
> would not matter if they packed heat or not.

No facts please.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/24 04:43 by restricted_speed.

restricted_speed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The victims chosen were all asleep when shot.
> It
> > would not matter if they packed heat or not.
>
> No facts please.

Well, the local Chicago ABC TV station came up with a new term last evening, while reporting on this mess. The victims were apparently all "unhoused"! Heaven forbid we should the derogatory term "homeless" any more.

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Well, the local Chicago ABC TV station came up
> with a new term last evening, while reporting on
> this mess. The victims were apparently all
> "unhoused"! Heaven forbid we should the derogatory
> term "homeless" any more.

The term has come about because the problem is so pervasive that the tents and shacks have become permanent residences for many. Everything they own is there in the tent. There are communities of folks who live in an area of a park, freeway right of way, or whatever. It's as much "home" to them as were the Hooverville shack towns. When there is a "sweep," they often lose that everything. What looks like garbage to us may be important to them. Years ago, I helped a neighbor with her janitor gig at a church in Seattle. She had no way to get to the job (one baby step from homeless herself), so I gave her a ride. I told her that as long as I'm here, let's knock it out together and get an early quit (so I'm a qualified janitor if the railroad thing doesn't work out).

There was a let's say houseless guy living in the stairwell of the basement stairs. He had a cardboard appliance box that, folded properly, made a reasonable alternative to sleeping directly on the concrete. He had a plastic trash bag with the little he had, some clothes (that could be mistaken for rags) and a few personal things. He would go out looking for work of any sort (but the days of walking in for a day of casual work are pretty much gone, and without an address and phone, a real job is a non-starter) and check dumpsters for food.

One night, we came to work and he was sitting on the top basement step, behind the church, totally distraught. While he was away, someone (my neighbor and I suspected a church official) 'cleaned up,' taking everything away.

That stairwell was "home" for him as much as our houses are for us. His loss was as devastating to him as our houses burning down would be to us (adding to the realism - and we didn't have insurance). He had been 'houseless' and was now 'homeless.'

That condition is widespread. Last I saw, 40 percent of 'houseless' have a job. (I saw a doucmentary of interviews of people living on the street. They included folks who work in the movie business in LA and even a banker in San Francisco, who isn't paid enough to live there or anywhere close enough to travel). I know a banker here who has to have a second job to just barely get by. It's not unusual.

I live in a pretty well-to-do part of the north Seattle suburbs.It's not Microsoft rich, but a 1952 tract house will run you a good $600k. The school district includes 400ish 'houseless' children going to school every day. They are permanent enough to do that, so wherever they go at night must be home of sorts, even if it a tent or a shack.

When it comes to how the homeless are drug users, for anyone whose daily prospect looks like what I've seen, I'm not surprised that it is how they cope.

Yup  - "houseless."

It's a good thing to think of on that next trip to Walmart to get the 'best price' on some cheap junk made in a place where labor is cheap.

TAW



 

Gee, I wonder if the millions of "undocumented" folks surging across our borders has anything to do with this "unhoused" issue?  

Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gee, I wonder if the millions of "undocumented"
> folks surging across our borders has anything to
> do with this "unhoused" issue?  

One would think! Now that they are no longer referred to as "illegal aliens", but are now "immigrants", things are getting worse and worse in those cities that are "sanctuary cities".