Investigators detail how suspected Chicago Blue Line train shooter was caught
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago Transit Authority employee was the person who discovered the four people fatally shot on two Blue Line train cars early Monday morning, according to a police report.
Prosecutors revealed new details on Wednesday about the quadruple fatal shooting on the Blue Line train shortly before 5:30 a.m. on Monday. Rhanni Davis, 30, of Chicago, was charged on Tuesday in connection with the murders of the four victims.
The CTA employee, who cleans the train cars each morning, had started his cleaning routine of the car in which they found three of the victims. He had started sweeping the entrance when he inadvertently swept a shell casing from the train onto the platform.
The employee then saw the three victims sitting about the train. The first victim was 52-year-old Sean Jones, who was shot twice. Simeon Bihesi, a 28-year-old man, was then shot twice, and then Margaret Miller Johnson, a 64-year-old woman was shot in the back of the head.
All three victims had been sleeping on the train before the shooting.
The employee later discovered the fourth person in another car. That person, Adrian Collins, 60, had been shot in the stomach. Prosecutors said the suspect went into that car while the train was in transit and approached Collins, who appeared to raise his hands in a defensive posture. He was injured when he was found but later died at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood from a gunshot to the abdomen.
The suspected shooter was wearing a black shirt, dark pants, a black ski mask, and white socks while wearing a cross-body bag with a North Face logo on it, per CTA security surveillance footage. He exited the train at the Harlem Blue Line stop, left the station and later returned about 15 minutes later to board a train headed to the Loop, prosecutors said.
A CTA employee later spotted Davis on a Pink Line train. Chicago police were notified. Officers found Davis at the Pink Line station at 2011 S. California Ave. around 7 a.m.
Officers then detained Davis and found a Glock 43 9mm handgun in the cross-body bag he was wearing.
Five 9mm shell casings were discovered on the train cars. Prosecutors said an analysis by Illinois State Police found the shell casings were from the gun Davis had on him.
Police also found gunshot residue on Davis' hands, prosecutors said.
A Riverdale police officer who had previously arrested Davis in connection with a misdemeanor offense identified him from a still image of a CTA video showing his face.
Prosecutors did not mention a possible motive for the shooting on Wednesday.
Some of the victim's family members were in court Wednesday but didn't want to share their thoughts on camera.
More on suspect's background
Davis has been arrested several times since 2014. That year, he was sentenced to two years probation for a misdemeanor battery charge. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 2020.
Davis has lived in Chicago his entire life. He attended Chicago Vocational High School. His public defender said he's had a Firearm Owners Identification card in the last three to four years, though it was not clear if the gun he allegedly used was his.
Davis has training and has worked in both security and home healthcare. He recently worked at a Taco Bell in Chicago, though it was unclear if he's currently employed.
Davis is being held in the Cook County Jail. His next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 27.
Surveillance footage at CTA station
Forest Park police on Wednesday also released surveillance footage that appeared to show Davis exiting the Blue Line train after the shooting.
In one clip, the train is seen approaching the station at 701 Harlem Ave. in Forest Park at 5:04 a.m. but before the train came to a complete stop, a man in a white hoodie appeared to have fallen out of one of the cars. He fell onto his back before collecting himself and jogging off the platform.
Several seconds later, a man appearing to match the police description of what Davis was wearing during the shooting was seen calmly walking on the station platform.
Around that time, the other person appeared to be walking through the turnstile gate and out of the station. About a minute after that, Davis appeared to also exit the station.