Overview
- Authorities say an 18-year-old Plainfield resident, Rashad Johnson, drove into five Chicago Police officers who were dispersing a large street gathering over Memorial Day weekend and now faces five counts of attempted first-degree murder and multiple other felonies.
- All five officers were taken to hospitals with nonfatal injuries and listed in fair condition after the crash that prosecutors say involved the vehicle striking officers multiple times before crashing into a squad car, a pole, and a fence.
- Police and prosecutors reported finding a loaded MAC-10 with an extended magazine in Johnson’s possession and argued that the weapon and his alleged refusal to stop show he posed a danger, a judge agreed by denying pretrial release.
- Chicago reported dozens of shooting incidents during the same holiday period, with police logging roughly 23 separate shootings and more than 30 people wounded over the long weekend while investigators continue to seek the gunman in a Little Village mass shooting that wounded four teens.
- City leaders, aldermen, community groups, and violence-intervention teams are debating responses that range from tougher parental-accountability measures to expanded summer programming and street outreach, with funding and staffing for intervention work a key concern.