CHICAGO, IL – While firearm deaths and injuries are still making headlines in Chicago, (there were 31 people shot with four fatalities just this weekend,) law enforcement and medical providers are dealing with a surge in reported paintball attacks with several reporting serious injuries.
Police sources state that there were just 42 reported attacks during the first eight months of 2020, but during September and October, according to the Chicago Sun-Times there were 208 paintball attacks reported with several resulting in serious injury.
In at least one case, an individual who was targeted lost his eye due to the paintball impact.
Medical professionals describe the damage as highly destructive when hit with the high velocity projectile. Commercial paintball recreation ranges universally require some form of eye protection to avoid these predictable injuries.
The Chicago Sun-Times also reports that Dr. Hassan Shah, assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual science at UChicago Medicine, says the University of Chicago Medical Center has seen the impact of the sharp rise in attacks, recalling a weekend earlier this month (in October) where the hospital treated eight patients for paintball-related injuries.
Shah said:
“We’ve seen the full spectrum of injuries, from bleeding inside the eye to severe damage where the eye is ruptured, where we cannot repair the eye and may even have to recommend removal of the eye.”
Breaking @Chicago_Police arrest 6 people all adults in string of paintball attacks. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/b623fTLGpB
— Jermont Terry (@JermontTerry) October 31, 2020
Although the attacks have been reported in many different areas, the administration of the University of Chicago recognized in mid-October, in a previous article by the Chicago Sun-Times that this was a concerning trend both on and off campus.
Associate Vice President for Safety and Security, Eric Heath, and Dean of Students, Michele Rasmusen, said in the alert:
“Several of the incidents reported to the University have occurred on campus while most have occurred off campus. The incidents have occurred in both daylight and evening hours.”
Local Chicago television station CBS 2 spoke to some victims who describe being deliberately targeted.
Officers in @ChicagoCAPS10 responded to a call of a group of male offenders shooting at people with paintball guns. Officers arrived took multiple offenders into custody and recovered four paintball guns and numerous amounts of paintballs. #CPDMediaCar @ChiefDavidBrown pic.twitter.com/TpYHqTdILr
— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) October 31, 2020
Victim Chris Trani:
“Someone yelling, ‘Hey man!’ Then I looked over and they started shooting me in the face.”
In a report by NBC 5, they interviewed Collin Pearce, a DePaul University sophomore who was shot with paintballs while walking to a convenience store in Lincoln Park.
Pearce said:
“I guess I’m glad that it’s not the real guns, because I wouldn’t be standing, talking right now.”
Pair charged in Chicago paintball gun attack https://t.co/z1mqxxoLVK
— Sun-Times Breaking (@CSTbreaking) November 2, 2020
While the police are making arrests, six adults were arrested on October 30 where four paintball guns and a vehicle were seized. All were released the following day without charges, according to NBC 5.
However, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on November 2 that two 18 year-olds were formally charged in a paintball attack.
Judge David Navarro said Monday:
“We’ve got young men driving around the city of Chicago with paintball guns. Somebody just standing there, getting hit out of the blue, would be painful, shocking, aggravating — to say the least.”
With all of the challenges that Chicago faces, the last thing it needed was a new violent crime problem.
Chicago: Fully-automatic gun-toting felon arrested for backing into cop with stolen car
November 6, 2020
CHICAGO, IL – A 23-year-old Chicago man was recently charged with felony aggravated battery of a peace officer and felony unlawful use of an automatic weapon after reportedly using a vehicle to back into a Chicago police officer.
Police located a loaded handgun on the suspect during the incident.
Update: Suburban man charged with reversing car into a Chicago cop and carrying an automatic-fire pistol near the Viagra Triangle downtown Tuesday afternoon.https://t.co/3cXX1biMWr
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) November 5, 2020
On November 3, Chicago police officers were out on patrol when located a stolen Dodge Charger parked along Maple Street.
Police approached the parked vehicle finding 23-year-old Anthony Sheko in the driver’s seat and 29-year-old Asia Spann sitting in the passenger seat.
Officers opened the driver’s door and ordered Sheko to exit the vehicle. According to reports, Sheko instead placed the car into reverse and pinned one officer between the open door and a steel flower plant.
The officer fell to the ground but managed to get back on his feet while drawing his sidearm. The officer once again ordered Sheko to step out of the vehicle. This time, Sheko complied with the officer’s commands.
Officers subsequently searched the vehicle and found a loaded handgun modified to toggle between semiautomatic and fully automatic with an extended clip.
As for the passenger, Spann was reportedly found in possession of 19 Oxycodone pills and charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Cop in fair condition after being pinned by stolen car during traffic stop near Viagra Triangle on Tuesday afternoon.https://t.co/nsYyEwbiwa
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) November 4, 2020
A records check showed the vehicle was involved in a prior incident involving fleeing and eluding police in the Midlothian area.
As of November 4, the officer struck by the suspect’s vehicle was still hospitalized in Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where the officer is reportedly being treated for bruising and swelling to the legs.
According to records, Sheko prior arrests in Chicago.
On July 3, 2016, Sheko was arrested for criminal trespassing of a residence. On November 1, 2019, Sheko was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle. In both previous cases, Sheko’s bond was set at $1,500.
During a bail hearing that followed Sheko’s arrest in this incident, Judge David Navarro set his bail at $100,000.
Law Enforcement Today has an update on a story about a wanted person published on November 2, 2020.
According to Madison County Sheriff’s Office’s Lt. Bryan White in Ohio, U.S. Marshals in West Virginia have arrested Juan Torkelson.
Torkelson was booked into the South Central Regional Jail at approximately 7:40 p.m. on November 3.
There are currently no reports on when extradition will transpire for the charges Torkelson faces in Illinois. Read the original story below:
Chicago: Man accused of murder given bail, escapes house arrest and is now on the run. Find him.
November 2, 2020
CHICAGO, IL – A man who was arrested in May of this year for charges of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder was on the run after he posted bond following his arrest.
Authorities conducted a search for the suspect who had allegedly pulled a gun on police and eluded arrest since absconding.
But now, authorities in West Virginia appear to have the fugitive in custody.
house arrest for a murder charge …
Chicago murder suspect on the run after escaping house arrest https://t.co/XnVKev4X8X— tommy "it's a glitch" cat (@tommy22069706) November 1, 2020
Back in May, police arrested 27-year-old Juan Torkelson in relation to a stabbing incident from November of 2019 where he allegedly stabbed four men after an argument over a fender bender in Portage Park in Chicago.
As a result of the incident, 28-year-old Reinaldo Sanchez died after he was stabbed in the chest.
Torkelson was charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder and had his bail set at $100,000.
By June 25th, the suspect had bonded out of jail and was placed on home electronic monitoring (house arrest) as a condition of his bail.
Authorities said that they had discovered a note at Torkelson’s residence on October 27th which stated he was going to go to a hospital.
Yet, on October 28th, sheriff’s deputies in the state of Ohio had pulled Torkelson over in Madison County (Madison County is roughly 300 miles away from Chicago, Illinois).
According to Madison County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bryan White, when deputies approached the vehicle on October 28th, Torkelson pointed a gun outside of the window and when the deputies took cover, he fled the traffic stop.
Reportedly, after fleeing the traffic stop, Torkelson had managed to crash his car four separate times while trying to elude authorities.
At the time following the interaction in Ohio, officials were unclear as to whether Torkelson was staying in Ohio or if he was just passing through.
Apparently, he must have been passing through the state, as Torkelson was arrested under charges of fugitive from justice in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
According to Madison County Sheriff’s Office’s Lt. Bryan White in Ohio, he stated that U.S. Marshals that were in West Virginia were the ones to have arrested Torkelson.
It’s currently unclear what led authorities onto Torkleson’s trail at this time.
Torkelson was booked into the South Central Regional Jail at approximately 7:40 p.m. on November 3rd.
There’s currently no reports on when an extradition will transpire for the charges Torkelson faces in Illinois, nor what will come from the alleged crimes in Ohio.
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