Elderly Man Charged With Shooting Amtrak Conductor In Naperville
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 79-year-old man from Wisconsin has been charged with shooting an Amtrak conductor on the platform of a station in Naperville earlier this week.
Edward Klein, of West Allis, has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery for shooting 45-year-old Amtrak conductor Michael Case on Tuesday. A DuPage County judge set Klein's bail at $1.5 million on Friday.
DuPage County prosecutors said Klein, a retired federal protective services officer who lives at a retirement home in West Allis, shot Case in the torso around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Klein had just returned from a canceled trip to Las Vegas, and was trying to catch a train to Milwaukee, but tried to get off the Amtrak train at a scheduled stop in Naperville. Knowing Klein needed to get to Chicago to catch a train to Milwaukee, Case stopped him from getting off at the Naperville station, enraging Klein, prosecutors said. Klein allegedly pulled out a handgun and reached out of the window of the train and shot the conductor, who was on the platform.
Klein tried to escape through the train window after shooting Case, but other passengers held him down until police arrived, according to prosecutors.
Asked why he shot Case, Klein told investigators, "The anger built up and I just blew him away," prosecutors said.
Klein seemed disoriented at his bond hearing on Friday. When asked if he wanted a public defender, he said, "I really don't need one if I'm leaving. I'm going to be leaving tomorrow."
If he's convicted, Klein faces more than 30 years in prison.
Although he had a clean record, prosecutors said newspaper clippings in his apartment indicated he has a fascination with police-involved shootings.
They also said he admitted that he pulled a gun on people twice before during earlier confrontations.
Klein was due back in court on June 12.
As for the victim, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help Case and his family pay for his medical expenses. He remained in intensive care Friday at Edward Hospital in Naperville.