A suspect wanted in last weekend’s fatal shooting of a 7-year-old Chicago girl in a McDonald’s drive-thru was taken into custody Thursday after being wounded in a shootout with police.
The alleged gunman, who has yet to be publicly identified, crashed following a chase as he tried to make a getaway on the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway near Bellwood, reports said, citing Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.
Jaslyn Adams was killed Sunday when at least 30 shots rang out as she sat in a car at the restaurant waiting for food, according to authorities. Her father, Jontae Adams, survived after he was shot in the torso and has since been released from the hospital.
The girl sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed by a police officer to a nearby hospital, where doctors were unable to save her life.
Family photo
Family photo
On Thursday, four days after the shooting, investigators were on the suspect’s trail when they saw him get into a car and peel off. He soon lost control of the vehicle on the expressway and allegedly tried to carjack a family traveling in the same direction, The Associated Press reported.
That’s when Chicago police opened fire on the suspect, striking him at least once in the arm, said Illinois State Police Trooper Kyle Barrett. The extent of the man’s injuries was not immediately known.
It was also unclear how many shots the suspect may have fired, but no officers were injured during the confrontation.
Investigators with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability were on the scene of the man’s arrest.
Police have not revealed whether there was a motive or other circumstances that may have led to Sunday’s shooting at the restaurant, but an employee said two people emerged from a gray car in the drive-thru and started unloading on Adams’ car.
Investigators later found 30 shell casings around the vehicle.
The windows on one side of the car had been blasted out, and bullet holes riddled its entire frame and back window.
Devastated family members gathered at the hospital where they spoke through tears about the death of Jaslyn, who was remembered as a happy-go-lucky little girl.
“It’s really emotional now for my family,” Jaslyn’s aunt, Tawny McMullen, told CBS Chicago. “She was just sweet and outgoing; really talkative; really lovable.”
McMullen decried the rampant gun violence that continues to plague Chicago year after year.
“Y’all, please put the guns down,” she said. “Our kids want to play. My kids can’t even go out the door because of this violence. Please put the guns down.”
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