Murder suspect in Chicago train mass shooting is ordered held without bond. ‘This defendant defines violent,’ judge says

By: CNN

Posted: Sep 4, 2024 9:52 PM CDT

Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times/AP via CNN Newsource

By Cheri Mossburg, Bill Kirkos, Lauren Mascarenhas, Brad Parks and Virginia Langmaid, CNN

(CNN) — The Chicago man who was charged with murder in the fatal shootings of four Chicago train riders earlier this week was ordered held without bond at his first court appearance Wednesday.

Rhanni S. Davis, 30, was charged Tuesday with four counts of first-degree murder, the Forest Park Police Department said in a news release.

He appeared in a Maywood court Wednesday wearing a tan Cook County jumpsuit with shackles around his hands and ankles.

Prosecutors told the court evidence will show Davis shot one victim twice in the head and back, shot a second person in the side of the face and the arm and then shot a third victim in the back of the head. Davis moved to the next train car and approached the fourth victim from behind. The victim raised his hands in a defensive posture before Davis fired, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors told the court Davis has a history of criminal activity, including a disorderly conduct offense in 2020, and two other prior arrests that were both dismissed. Davis’ attorney, Robert Fox, told the court he had a Firearm Owner’s Identification card, training in security and home health care, and no prior convictions. Davis recently worked at a local Taco Bell, the attorney added.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Ciaccia-Lezza said the facts alleged by the state were “absolutely horrific and appalling.”

“This defendant defines violent,” Ciaccia-Lezza said. “The public would not be safe with any amount of movement by this defendant.”

Davis is due back in court on September 27.

The court hearing came two days after the mass shooting early Monday morning targeted four people who appeared to be sleeping on the train. Davis was detained about 90 minutes after the shooting was reported around 5:30 a.m. on the Blue Line train heading to the Forest Park suburb west of downtown.

The attack raised further concerns about the safety of public transit systems in American cities like Chicago and New York. Ridership levels plunged during the Covid pandemic and have had a muted recovery since, in part due to perceptions of disorder and crime.

Still, police emphasized Tuesday they believe this was an isolated and random attack. There is no identified motive at this time, Forest Park Police Department Det. Lt. Dan Pater said during the news conference.

“Allegedly, this man came onto a train while people were sleeping … and pumped bullets into their bodies,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said Tuesday. “We want answers. Right now, we don’t have an answer as to why anyone would engage in such a heinous, heinous act. But as it stands … we have enough for the purposes of charging first-degree murder.”

Police release surveillance video of suspect

The early morning shooting happened in two train cars, where three victims were shot in one car and the fourth in another, with a total of six rounds, police said.

Surveillance video was instrumental in identifying the suspect, police said.

Forest Park police released two surveillance videos Wednesday showing Davis casually walking in a train station.

The first video, from 5:04 a.m. CT Monday, shows a Blue Line train arriving at the Harlem station when a man in a gray outfit jumps out of the moving train, falls onto the platform, and then gets up and hustles away. After the train comes to a full stop, a person wearing a black shirt, black ski mask and black backpack then walks in the same direction.

The second video, taken at about 5:06 a.m. CT, shows the same man in the ski mask casually walking out of a train station.

Three of the victims were identified as 60-year-old Adrian Collins, 28-year-old Simeon Bihesi and 64-year-old Margaret A. Miller, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office told CNN on Tuesday. The other victim was a man in his 50s, but no additional identifying information was available as police said they are still trying to reach the man’s family.

Police recovered a Glock 43 9mm pistol they confirmed Tuesday was the weapon used in the shooting.

CTA’s Blue Line spans 27 miles between O’Hare International Airport and Forest Park, passing through or near dozens of neighborhoods and downtown Chicago. Service on the line resumed Monday evening.

The victims may have been homeless, Forest Park Deputy Chief Chris Chin told CNN Monday, but Pater indicated Tuesday they “don’t have any information that proves or disproves otherwise.”

“Although this was an isolated incident, this heinous and egregious act of violence should never have occurred, nonetheless on a public transit train,” the transit authority said in a statement.

“This obviously is shocking, you know, it is uncommon to have a mass shooting like this,” said Chin. “This is an isolated incident, so it can happen anywhere. Obviously, there’s a little bit more concern because it is on a mass transit system,” he added. “For people to feel unsafe, it’s justified.”

CNN and the Gun Violence Archive define a mass shooting as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins said the shooting is an “outlier” for the city.

Hours after the shooting, another passenger was seriously injured in a stabbing on the Red Line, Chicago police said in a statement. The incident began as a verbal altercation between a 37-year-old victim and an unknown man, who at some point took out a “sharp object” and repeatedly stabbed the victim, police said.

“The victim fled from the train at the Wilson Red Line station, and relocated, on foot, to the 4700 block of N. Broadway. The victim was then transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital initially listed in critical condition,” police told CNN.

A suspect in the stabbing has yet to be found and detectives are investigating.

This story has been updated with additional information.