A friend of the man who was shot near the Wabash Bridge this weekend took the victim’s own gun and fired shots at the fleeing gunman, according to prosecutors. The friend is now charged with a felony, but the man who shot the victim remains at-large.
The victim, age 26, was seen stepping out of a black BMW to talk with a group of women on the 200 block of North Wabash around 5 a.m. Saturday, prosecutors said. At some point, another man approached the group, struck up a conversation, and then shot the victim several times.
Kiwane Williams, 25, then got out of the BMW’s driver’s seat, took a gun from the wounded man, chased the gunman, and began shooting at him, prosecutors said.
The victim was placed in the BMW and driven to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where police seized the vehicle and found a handgun under the driver’s seat, according to police records.
The shooting victim suffered three gunshot wounds to his back, according to police. His condition has been stabilized.
Williams was charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon in 2018, but the state pleaded the case down to a misdemeanor, prosecutors said.
His defense attorney, Frank Tedesso, said the 2018 case stemmed from Williams leaving his handgun on his car’s passenger seat while returning from a shooting range.
Tedesso argued that Williams was “trying to protect himself and the shooting victim” in a “split-second decision.”
Judge Charles Beach ordered Williams held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Williams will also be required to go on electronic monitoring if he can post a $10,000 deposit bond.