'You Will Die:' Jovan McPherson Charged With Shooting CPD Officer, Kidnapping Woman In Lincoln Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- "You will die" – that was the message captured on police body camera moments before a 23-year-old Elgin man shot a Chicago Police officer in the face, prosecutors said.
The injury could very easily have been fatal.
The suspect, Jovan McPherson, has been charged with attempted murder and several other felonies in the shooting of the Chicago Police officer Monday afternoon, after prosecutors said he first he kidnapped a woman in Lincoln Park.
McPherson is charged with one count of attempted murder, two felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one felony count of aggravated battery, one felony count of armed kidnapping, one felony count of aggravated unlawful restraint, and one felony count of resisting a police officer. He was ordered held without bond Tuesday.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey has learned that McPherson was already on probation for a Kane County case involving fleeing and eluding police when he was accused of shooting the officer.
Prosecutors said it all started with a kidnapping at gunpoint. They said McPherson got upset with the 21-year-old woman who was driving him downtown from Elgin.
Investigators say he took her cell phone, pressed a gun to her head and told her to drive, while threatening to kill her.
She pulled over in the parking lot of the North & Sheffield Commons Shopping Center at 1000 W. North Ave., and went into the Ulta store where she asked employees for help, prosecutors said.
They took her back to the dressing room while two officers arrived.
Prosecutors said McPherson ripped one officer's mask off, shoved him and, placed him in a "bear hug." When the officers followed him out to the car, McPherson then said, "I got a gun too."
One of the officers asked where the gun was, and McPherson replied, "What, you want to fight?" prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, McPherson said during the struggle for the gun, "Y'all not gonna get this; I'm too strong for this s**t."
McPherson then pulled the gun from underneath his legs and pointed it at the officer - who could see down the barrel of the gun, prosecutors said. The officer grabbed it to push it away from his face, prosecutors said.
During the struggle, McPherson fired the gun three times, striking the officer in the cheek.
McPherson is heard on body-worn camera video saying, "You will die."
He was placed under arrest and admitted to shooting at the police officer, claiming they shot at him first. But prosecutors said neither officer fired his weapon.
The officer suffered a through-and-through wound to the face. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. He has since been released from the hospital, and stopped by his district police station before he headed home Monday night.
At the scene Monday afternoon, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) was angry that another police officer had been shot in Chicago.
"The good news is the officer's injuries are not life-threatening, but let's pause and reflect on the fact that it is life-altering," Hopkins said. "Getting shot in the face is no small matter - even if you're going to live from those injuries, and even if you're going to fully recover from those injuries - and let's pray that he will."
A woman named Emily who lives across the street from the shopping center heard the shots.
"At 3:30 in the afternoon on a Monday, it's very unsettling," she said. "If they're going to shoot a police officer, they're going to shoot anybody - and I think that's what kind of gives me the chills, and it's scary - no matter who you are."
On Monday night, the officer was released from the hospital and returned to the Near North (18th) District police station at at 1160 N. Larrabee St. wearing his hospital gown, while other officers saluted him.
The officer returned home afterward.
Hopkins said it was very fortunate that the outcome was not far worse.
"Let's say it's a centimeter or two at the most away from striking another part of his head instead of going through his cheek," Hopkins said. "It was that close."
Police Supt. David Brown said the officer was still at home resting with his family Tuesday.
