Suspect Charged In Uptown Shooting
UPDATED 01/06/10 2:01 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man has been charged with fatally shooting one man and wounding another in broad daylight earlier this week in the Uptown neighborhood.
Brayant Rogers, 27, of the 4400 block of North Malden Street, was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and misdemeanor possession of cannabis Wednesday night, police said.
Bond for Rogers was denied Thursday by Judge Jackie Portman in Violence Court (Br. 66.)
About 20 minutes after noon on Tuesday, Rogers walked up to a van in the 4500 block of Magnolia Avenue, took out a handgun, and fired at the two men inside, police alleged.
Killed was Brian Green, 23, of the 3900 block of West Ontario Street, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. A 20-year-old man was shot in the hand, police said.
A Chicago Police officer who was in an unmarked police car witnessed the shooting, and Green was found dead on the scene.
The man who survived suffered a graze wound to the finger and he refused medical treatment, police and fire officials said.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said Green was shot in the chest.
Town Hall District police officers allegedly saw Rogers fleeing the scene. Officers chased him a short distance and arrested him without incident.
On the Uptown Update blog, neighbors report safety issues and problems with gang activity near the crime scene. They say the problem is particularly severe about a block away from the crime scene in a building at 4520 N. Malden St., and at the Sunnyside Mall, a two-block strip of Sunnyside Avenue that is closed to vehicular traffic between Magnolia Avenue and Beacon Street.
Another shooting nearby at Montrose and Magnolia avenues terrified neighbors and families out trick-or-treating for Halloween last year. At 5 p.m. on Oct. 31 of last year, two 17-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy were shot and wounded. Children were left crying and scared as people went scurrying for cover after the shooting.
Police records show that the 2010 murder rate in the Town Hall District, where the homicide occurred, was up 400 percent from 2009, according to Michael Carroll, a Chicago Police officer running for alderman to replace the retiring Helen Shiller (46th.)
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
