Tragedy Strikes on Labor Day: Mass Shooting on CTA Blue Line Train in Forest Park

Yeah, Liz, Rob. Really a horrible way to start out the Labor Day holiday. Police have yet to release the name of the suspect in this case or the victims involved, but we are told that when officers arrived to this CTA stop, they found three people shot and killed inside one of the trains and taking a fourth victim to the hospital. That person later died. Telling us that there are three subjects that are shot, possibly all fatal. Another victim was found shortly after, making a total of four people shot and killed Labor Day morning. Shocking, you know, it is uncommon, you know, to have a mass shooting like this, especially this close to home. Police say this all happened just before 5:30 this morning on an inbound CTA Blue Line train. The four victims were found in two rail cars after the train arrived at the Forest Park station. We have somebody in custody. A weapon was recovered. Forest Park Deputy Police Chief Christopher Chin says with the help of video surveillance from the CTA, officers were able to catch the suspect within an hour and a half after responding on a CTA Pink Line train. In a statement to ABC 7, a spokesperson for the CTA says in part, although this was an isolated incident, this heinous and egregious act of violence should never have occurred. Nonetheless, on a public transit chain. Over the last two years, our number of responses have increased exponentially. Mayor Rory Hoskins, Says Forest Park is the only suburban community to have two major train lines. And in Forest Park. And because of that, they’ve seen increased criminal activity at this very stop. We’re calling on our leadership, countywide, statewide, to invest more resources to support a small community like Forest Park. He says those resources can be a combination from enhanced security personnel to putting more workers on trains for people to feel unsafe. You know, it’s justified. Now, the CTA did install a new security system. That’s the 0 I system. That’s a 24 7 surveillance system that detects guns. However, I spoke to a CTA spokesperson earlier today, and they tell me that was not a factor in this case at Forest Park because those, uh, that new system is only in select stations. But just to be clear, the police do have surveillance video, and that is assisting this investigation.