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| Wilbur Jackson and the defaced handgun that police say he was carrying in Uptown this week. | CPD |
A man who’s on parole for attempted murder is back in jail after police say they found him with a gun in Uptown on Tuesday evening.
Police responded to more than 20 calls of shots fired in the area of Magnolia and Wilson around 7:30 p.m. that evening. Within an hour, officers received a tip that a man wearing a black coat and cut-up jeans with pajamas underneath had a handgun in the area.
Around 8:30, cops saw Wilbert “Wilbur” Jackson Jr standing in the 4600 block of North Racine dressed precisely as the tipster described. Jackson was holding his waistband, and police officers could see a bulge in his pants near Jackson’s hands, according to their report.
When an officer asked Jackson to approach his squad car, Jackson ran away. Cops chased him, and Jackson was arrested at Truman College, police said. Officers re-traced the foot pursuit path and allegedly found a handgun lying in the courtyard of a senior building.
Jackson, 39, is now charged with one felony count of being a felon in possession of a weapon; felony possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, and felony unlawful use of a weapon without a Firearms Owner ID Card. Judge David Navarro ordered him held without bail.
Court records show that 97 criminal cases have been filed against Jackson in Cook County since 1997. Most recently, Jackson was convicted of shooting a man at an Edgewater White Castle restaurant on Thanksgiving weekend, 2010. Judge Sharon Sullivan sentenced him to nine years, and Jackson was paroled on June 8th.
In a 1997 case, he was found not guilty of attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and aggravated discharge of a firearm in a bench trial.
Two years later, he received a sentence of 62 days time served for having a firearm in public.
Two years after that, he was sentenced to one year for narcotics, but the sentence was off-set by time served.
In 2002, prosecutors dropped an armed robbery with a firearm case against Jackson stemming from an incident in the 4700 block of North Racine.
Two years later, prosecutors dropped carjacking and robbery charges against him in connection with an incident in the 4400 block of North Magnolia.
And, in a 2006 case, he received a three-year sentence for having narcotics in the 4500 block of North Magnolia.
Police said in Jackson’s arrest report this week that he is a member of the Black P Stones street gang.
