A 28-year-old man has been arrested and charged a day after three undercover law enforcement officers, including two federal agents, were shot and wounded as their car approached a highway on Chicago’s South Side, according to reports.
Eugene McLaurin was expected to make his initial court appearance Thursday on at least one count of using a deadly weapon to assault a special agent, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Gunfire rang out just before 6 a.m. Wednesday near the 22nd District police station in the city’s Morgan Park neighborhood, around the 1900 block of West Monterey Avenue, where the officers were headed toward the on-ramp of Interstate 57 in a white Chrysler 300.
McLaurin told investigators that he had been watching the car, thinking its occupants were members of a rival gang on his turf, a federal criminal complaint states, according to WGN.
“McLaurin stated that he began following the Chrysler because he believed that it was a vehicle driven by ‘opps,’ referring to members of a rival street gang,” the complaint states. “Specifically, McLaurin explained that on or about July 6, 2021 — the day before the shooting — a friend told McLaurin that there was a white Chrysler 300 surveilling the area.”
Upon spotting the car Wednesday morning, McLaurin — who was in a white Chevrolet Malibu — took aim with a 9 mm Glock pistol that he purchased a few months earlier for personal protection and opened fire, prosecutors allege in the complaint.
After the shooting, McLaurin fled the scene and dropped the gun down a storm drain, court records state.
The gunshot victims survived and have since been released from the hospital.
Authorities identified them as a Chicago police officer and two federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, local news reports said.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said the unmarked vehicle was on an on-ramp to Interstate 57 when they were “fired upon from the street.”
Police shut down 119th Street in both directions between Vincennes Road and Interstate 57 as investigators combed the scene.
One of the officers was shot in the hand, another was shot in the shoulder and one suffered a superficial graze wound to the head, according to the Chicago Fire Department. All three were transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center.
Initially, Illinois State Police said they were searching for a suspect in a white Chevrolet Impala, WGN reported.
The shooting came ahead of a scheduled visit to suburban Crystal Lake, Illinois, by President Joe Biden. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said she plans to discuss gun control and the city’s violence, which has included an increase in shootings this year, when she meets with the president.
A Justice Department spokesperson said Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting and aboard Air Force One on the president’s flight to Chicago. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was also “monitoring the situation in coordination with the Department of Justice and ATF.”
When Air Force One landed, Biden spoke with Lightfoot, expressing his personal support for the officers who were shot. He reiterated his commitment to working with the mayor and leaders in Chicago in the fight against gun violence and conveyed that the Department of Justice would soon be in touch about the strike force announced just a few weeks ago that will work with Chicago and other cities.
“I will note, in terms of efforts the president has underway to address the rise in violence we’ve seen over the last 18 months, including in Chicago, there are a number of steps that impact Chicago directly,” Psaki told reporters before Air Force One landed.
The shootings came a day after police reported that 100 people were shot in Chicago — including two police officers who were wounded while trying to break up a crowd — over the long Fourth of July weekend. A total of 36 officers have been shot so far this year in the Windy City, according to NBC Chicago.
The holiday weekend shootings included 18 homicides. The bloodshed was comparable to the long Fourth of July weekend last year, when 17 people were fatally shot and 70 more were wounded.
Information provided by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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