Charges were pending for a Chicago firefighter following a road rage shooting that left a man in critical condition Sunday night in Andersonville, police said.
No charges have been filed as of Tuesday afternoon but fire officials confirmed the firefighter has been sidelined during the investigation as he remains in police custody.
Around 8 p.m. Sunday, the suspect was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe in the 5200 block of North Clark Street when a man driving a Jeep ran into him, pulled a three-point turn and started to drive away, according to a police report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The suspect “chased” the man for several blocks before ramming into the black 2008 Jeep, causing the 35-year-old to lose control and plow into parked cars in the 1600 block of West Foster Avenue, according to the report.
That’s when the suspect jumped out of the 2018 Tahoe brandishing a gun.
Philip Fahey, 63, and a friend were preparing for a church event nearby and were checking doors to make sure they were open and he saw what happened next.
“Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” the suspect yelled, according to Fahey.
“We heard a pop,” Fahey told the Sun-Times. “The guy in the Tahoe realizes he left his truck in the gear and it was rolling down the street.”
After firing once, hitting the victim in the left jaw area, the gun jammed, according to the police report.
“I thought [the pop] was part of the car accident,” Fahey said. “When he said he got shot and there was a shooting, I realized it was actually a gunshot.”
A cab driver in the area called 911 and the suspect then began arguing with the Jeep’s passenger, a 34-year-old West Ridge man who stepped out with his hands up, the report said.
They argued until paramedics arrived, according to Fahey. The passenger declined to comment when reached by the Sun-Times.
The victim was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition and a relative says he was on life support.
“It just seems kind of unreasonable that this guy got shot for a traffic altercation,” Fahey said.
He was arrested on the scene a few minutes later.
Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said the firefighter, with the department since 2019, has been benched from duty pending the results of the investigation. His gun, which he had holstered in his waistband, was taken by police.
The victim’s father told the Sun-Times he was still sedated and intubated as of Tuesday afternoon.
“All of our family, we’re just praying,” said the victim’s father, who didn’t want to be named for fear of retaliation, said. “We’re stunned by this, especially, I mean, the way it happened.”
The man’s father saw him Sunday morning, hours before he was shot. “He said ‘I love you guys’ like he always does and just left,” he said.
Choking back tears, he described his son as someone who is “a very loving person and is always happy.”
“He makes you smile no matter what.”
