Prosecutors: Woman Shot In Fulton River District Was Paralyzed, Gun Used By Michael Blackman Was Illegally Purchased In Minnesota
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman who was shot and wounded in broad daylight in the Fulton River District last week was left paralyzed, according to federal prosecutors.
The information came from a new federal criminal filing out of Minnesota, which charges two people with supplying the gun that was used in that shooting.
Michael Blackman, 45, was charged with five charges of attempted first degree murder in connection with the shooting of a 28-year-old woman on Milwaukee Avenue near Lake Street on Wednesday of last week, as well as the subsequent shooting of a Chicago police officer a few days later.
Police said Blackman shot the woman in the back as she was walking to lunch last Wednesday. She survived and was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Prosecutors said she suffered multiple broken ribs, and a torn artery and nerve in her chest. She has lost some feeling and mobility and her right hand.
The office of Minnesota U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said Thursday that the woman was left paralyzed in the shooting. Further specifics were not provided.
Blackman was arrested Saturday after a chase and shootout with police Saturday afternoon near 64th Street and Bell Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood, after earlier shooting a police officer who was trying to serve an arrest warrant.
Police said Blackman shot a 40-year-old police officer Saturday morning in the 1900 block of West 65th Street while the officer was serving an arrest warrant in a burglary case and following up on the shooting of a 28-year-old woman last week.
Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the wounded officer had the "self-awareness to make his own tourniquet while his partners maintained pressure on the gunshot wound on the way to the hospital."
The officer was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized after surgery.
Following a review of surveillance video, police found Blackman in the area of the 6400 block of South Hoyne Avenue and got into a shootout. Blackman was shot and suffered a broken leg. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in critical condition.
The Minnesota U.S. Attorney's office announced Thursday that Sequana Cigolo, 38, and Jason Lynndrotti Winston, 48, have both been charged with supplying the gun that was used in the Fulton River District shooting and several others.
Prosecutors said the gun that used by Blackman – who was not named in a news release on the charges – was purchased by Cigolo on July 11 from Bill's gun shop in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
Police learned that Cigolo's brother was the victim of a shooting on July 28, prosecutors said. A forensic comparison from three crime scenes – two in Chicago and one in Minneapolis – revealed that the sem-automatic pistol used in the Blackman shootings was the same one Cigolo bought on July 11, prosecutors said.
A federal criminal complaint said Cigolo admitted to buying the gun for Winston, her ex-boyfriend's cousin, who had asked her to do so because he is a convicted felon and could not buy a gun himself. Cigolo also admitted to lying on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives form and saying she was buying the gun for herself when she really was not, prosecutors said.
After buying the gun, Cigolo gave it to Winston, who paid her about $250, prosecutors said. The same day, police interviewed Winston at his home, where they found a pistol box and the original pistol safety lock for a 9mm piston, along with a magazine with 9mm ammunition, prosecutors said.
Winston admitted to handing over the 9mm semiautomatic pistol to the person who was charged in Hennepin County with the July 28 shooting that killed Cigolo's brother, prosecutors said.
The news release did not specify how the gun found its way to Chicago and to Blackman. But CBS 2 has learned that Cigolo has ties to Chicago.
"The Chicago Police Department works tirelessly on a daily basis to stem the flow of illegal firearms into the city. Prohibited persons and those who supply firearms to those individuals will be held accountable and brought to justice," Chicago Police Supt. Johnson said in a news release. "I would like to extend my gratitude to the special agents of the ATF Chicago and St. Paul Field Divisions and the officers of the Minneapolis Police Department who worked hand in hand with our officers over the course of this investigation."
Police said on Monday that Blackman used the same gun to shoot the woman on Milwaukee Avenue, to shoot the officer, and to fire at officers when he was apprehended. Police said Blackman also did not have a legal right to have a gun, as he is also a convicted felon.
