Woman Held Hostage, Shot At Evanston IHOP During Shooting Spree Dies
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- The woman held hostage and shot at an Evanston IHOP during a shooting spree from Chicago's South Side to the northern suburb has died, authorities confirm.
Marta Torres, 61, is the fourth person to die as a result of the shooting spree. Torres was shot in the neck after she was held hostage on Jan. 9 by Jason Nightengale, who also shot and injured another three people before he was shot and killed by Evanston police.
The victims were apparently shot at random – from the Indian Village district in East Hyde Park-Kenwood, to South Halsted Street in the Brainerd and Fernwood communities, and finally to the line between the West Rogers Park neighborhood and Evanston many miles away.
Nightengale, 32, had no apparent motive. But he hinted to his plans and his now-disabled social media accounts. He documented his own reckless driving on video and said he was going to be on TV.
The shooting spree began just beyond the doors of the parking garage at the Regents Park building, 5035 S. East End Ave., at 1:50 p.m.
Police said Nightingale slipped in and killed University of Chicago Ph.D. student Yiran Fan, 30, who was just sitting behind the wheel of his car.
Across the street and a block to the north at The Barclay condo complex, 4940 S. East End Ave., police said Nightengale shot two women, killing doorwoman Aisha Johnson, 46, and wounding a 77-year-old woman who was getting her mail.
From there, he stole a red Toyota – demanding a man's keys at gunpoint on the 19th floor of an Indian Village residential high-rise – before making his way south.
Nightengale ended up at the AK Food Mart, 9307 S. Halsted St. Inside, police said he shot and killed Anthony Faulkner Jr., 20, about an hour and 45 minutes after killing Johnson. He also shot the 81-year-old clerk, leaving her in critical condition.
Police said Nightengale went on to shoot a 15-year-old girl who was in the back seat of a car in the 10300 block of South Halsted Street, and then drove back by the AK Food Mart where he fired at officers investigating his earlier shooting but did not strike anyone.
Surveillance video shows Nightengale driving off in the red Toyota, but on police radio, his vehicle description was inconsistent – in one instance being described as a gray car with tinted windows.
It ended up being a ShotSpotter call that alerted police that Nightengale had made his way to Evanston, where he had taken Torres hostage and shot her at the IHOP at Howard Street and Asbury Avenue before he was finally shot and killed by police.
Chicago Police said Nightengale's erratic behavior and apparently random targets are what made him so difficult to track.
CBS 2 on Monday posed the question to the CPD that Faulkner's family asked – why were there were no alerts to the public as this was unfolding?
A spokesperson said that it was during the course of the investigations that it was determined the events were likely connected. It wasn't immediately apparent.
Torres died Saturday evening.
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