Free Republic

A West Side man who tried to shoot someone in another car by firing out his rear passenger window while driving managed to shoot and kill his own backseat passenger instead, prosecutors said this week. Quincy Cole, 27, is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of his passenger, 19-year-old Roderick James, on December 6, 2020. Cole was on bail for a pending felony arson case at the time of the killing. CPD records show that police wanted to charge him with murder in the pending case, but prosecutors only approved arson charges. The alleged murder of James makes Cole...

As Chicago ends its deadliest year in more than a quarter century, Police Supt. David Brown on Thursday promised more detectives to solve murders and more officers on the street to engage in “positive interactions” in neighborhoods. “We all know this has been a challenging year here in the city of Chicago,” Brown said at a news conference to discuss his goals for the new year. “Too many families are reeling from the loss of loves ones due to senseless gun violence. “Too many residents are dealing with the ripple effects of this trauma due to crime in our community,”...

CHICAGO - A 15-year-old girl was among 11 wounded in citywide shootings Thursday. The girl was inside her home about 2 a.m. in the 8000 block of South Crandon Avenue when a male fired a gun in a different part of the house, Chicago police said. A bullet grazed the teen in the thigh, and she was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said. Two people were shot about the same time in separate shootings in Chicago Lawn. About 2:33 p.m., a man, 18, was in a car in the 6400 block of South...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was slammed on Twitter after she and her wife, Amy Eshleman, posted a video wishing a 'joyous Kwanzaa' ... The backlash comes as Lightfoot is accused of ignoring the city's surge in violent crimes, including a 25-year high murder rate, with 767 homicides in the city so far this year. Last week, she begged Attorney General Merrick Garland to send ATF agents to the city for six months to help get illegal guns off the street after she slashed the police budget ... Twitter users were quick slam Lightfoot, saying the the principles of Kwanzaa -...

Authorities in Illinois are searching for an "armed and dangerous" man after a police officer was shot and killed and another was wounded during a call Wednesday. The officers responded to a Comfort Inn at about 9:40 p.m. "for reported dogs barking in an unattended vehicle which was parked in the parking lot," Bradley Police Chief Donald W. Barber said Thursday morning in a statement. Officers found the room where the owner of the vehicle was staying and "initiated conversation," according to the statement. During the conversation, one of the people in the room attacked the officers, and shot both...

MILL SHOALS, Ill.—Authorities in two states are searching for a gunman who killed an eastern Illinois deputy early Wednesday and is suspected in a carjacking in neighboring Missouri a couple of hours later. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that Deputy Sean Riley responded to a motorist assist call on Interstate 64 near Mill Shoals around 5 a.m. Wednesday. A second officer who arrived at the scene found Riley dead. The deputy’s squad car was later found abandoned on I-64.

Deputy Sheriff Sean Riley was shot and killed after responding to assist a motorist near mile marker 115 on I-64 at about 5:00 am. Another officer responding to back him up found him suffering from fatal gunshot wounds and his patrol car was missing. The subject later abandoned the patrol car on I-64 before fleeing to St. Peters, Missouri, where he carjacked and shot a citizen. The man then abandoned the vehicle before stealing another vehicle and returning to Illinois. He was taken into custody in the early afternoon.

Mandate set to begin Monday.. ORLAND PARK, Ill. — The Village of Orland Park voted Tuesday to defy Cook County’s proof of vaccine mandate. During a special meeting of the Orland Park Board of Trustees, the board approved a resolution opposing Cook County’s vaccine mandate. The mandate calls for proof of vaccination for customers of indoor settings where food or drink are served, like restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and in fitness facilities. The order will go into effect Jan. 3. But Orland Park leaders said that won’t happen there. “We have allowed our businesses a choice in how they...

Two Democrat lawmakers were recently carjacked within 16 hours of each other.Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.) was robbed and carjacked in broad daylight at FDR Park in South Philadelphia on Wednesday. Two gunmen demanded the congresswoman hand over her keys and belongings, which included her government issued ID and cell phone....There have reportedly been more than 700 carjackings in Philadelphia this year alone. The incident comes after Illinois State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford was also carjacked just 16 hours earlier on Tuesday.Authorities said three masked suspects stole Lightford’s vehicle Tuesday night in a Chicago suburb. Cynthia Boyd witnessed the...

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a petition from some Illinois teaches seeking to end "escape period" schemes that kept them from cutting off union dues. The Supreme Court ruled in its 2018 Janus decision that employees of state and local governments cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees, and that government workers must affirmatively consent before union dues are taken from their paychecks. Chicago Public Schools educators Joanne Troesch and Ifeoma Nkemdi sued the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education over a union boss-created "escape period" that blocks workers from exercising their right to...

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (D) said that “we still talk more about COVID than we do gun violence” even though more children have been the victims of gun violence in the city than have died from coronavirus in Illinois. Lopez said, “We’ve seen more children impacted by gun violence than by COVID, and now, she’s [Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D)] doing the great pivot, the great about-face, and saying now that President Joe Biden is here, she’ll take the help. What about all those thousands of people whose lives have...

Four people were wounded when gunfire erupted at a Chicago-area mall, sending frightened last-minute holiday shoppers and employees scurrying for cover. Two gunmen opened fire on each other at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday in a corridor at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook. One of the suspects, who was not immediately identified, was wounded and taken into custody, while cops were still searching for the second shooter, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Cook County will follow Chicago in imposing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for patrons 5 and older of restaurants, bars, gyms and an assortment of other businesses, officials announced Thursday. The mandate for suburban Cook County takes effect Monday, Jan. 3, as does Chicago’s. The indoor establishments that will be required to ask for proof of vaccination status also include gyms and anywhere else food and drink are served, according to a copy of the COVID-19 order from the Cook County Department of Public Health. That encompasses movie theaters, concert venues, arcades, sports arenas and more. ...

Businesses requiring patrons, including children as young as five, to show proof of vaccination is now “necessary,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) declared this week. “Despite our diligent and equitable vaccine distribution efforts throughout this year, unfortunately, our city continues to see a surge of COVID-19 Delta and now omicron cases,” the Democrat mayor said on Tuesday, announcing the city’s new vaccine requirement, which goes into effect January 3.

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot and health officials announced Tuesday that individuals 5 years of age and older will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to dine indoors and visit gyms or entertainment venues where food or drinks are served. According to the mayor’s office, the new requirement goes into effect Jan. 3 and is in response to the rise in COVID-19 cases in part by the omicron variant. It is similar to the requirements already in place in other large cities, including New York City and Los Angeles. “There’s no denying that we’re...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is calling on the federal government for help in combating crime and violence in the Windy City. In a news conference Monday, the Democrat mayor asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to send in agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for six months to ramp up the number of gun investigations and gun seizures, according to Fox32 Chicago. She also asked for more federal prosecutors to handle the criminal cases those agents will investigate, as well as federal marshals to assist local law enforcement with tracking down thousands of suspects wanted on...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) is calling for federal officials to help her curb gun violence in the city and target its root causes. In a speech on Monday, Lightfoot urged U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to utilize agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to address illegal firearms and for more prosecutors to bring criminal cases, according to The Chicago Tribune. “Keeping you safe is my priority — not one of, but the first and primary priority,” Lightfoot said to the citizens of Chicago. “I wake every morning with this as my first concern and I...

A teenager in a Chicago suburb who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 15-year-old was sentenced to three years of probation and to complete community service hours. "When the defendant stabbed my son, he stabbed the heart of my family," the victim’s mother, Marcela Fierros, said in a statement that was read in court Monday. The unidentified defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after 15-year-old Elias Valdez was fatally stabbed in August of 2020 in Glenview, which is about about 20 miles from Chicago. The defendant was charged as a juvenile in the case. n addition to probation and completing...

Administrators at a Chicago Public Schools high school have shot down an attempt by a right-wing group to form a chapter on the Northwest Side campus of “an organization promoting racial intolerance.” Meanwhile, Chicago police said they are investigating a social media post by a longtime CPD sergeant that praised supposed efforts by students to start the group, Turning Point USA. Taft High School Principal Mark Grishaber said in a letter to the school community earlier this month that he was “disturbed” by efforts to launch a Turning Point chapter at Taft. The right-wing organization has a presence at more...

Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) revealed on Wednesday that she has contracted the Chinese coronavirus despite being vaccinated and boosted. Schakowsky said she is experiencing a fever and feeling generally “ill.” “As I mentioned in my weekly video, my husband Bob tested positive for COVID Friday. Yesterday I was having a bit of fever and feeling ill. After several negative tests in the days before, I tested positive for COVID last night. We are both vaccinated and received the booster,” she revealed on social media.