A north suburban man went on a shooting spree across Chicago and Evanston, killing three people and critically wounding four others before Evanston police fatally shot him in an exchange of gunfire Saturday evening, authorities said.
No motive has been given for Jason Nightengale’s hours-long violence binge, but dozens of videos posted to his Facebook page since January 6 show him flashing a gun, sizing up potential crime victims as they sit in cars, drinking, smoking, and gradually descending into a seemingly deranged mental state.
Chicago police are now looking at some of the city’s unsolved murder cases to see if there may be links to Nightengale, according to two sources.
In some videos posted this week, Nightengale said he was out looking for people to victimize.
“I’m looking for somebody by themself, you know what I mean? Walking to their car,” Nightengale says as he walks across a strip mall parking lot.
“It might be this guy,” he continues as he turns the camera toward an idling SUV with a driver sitting behind the wheel. “I might jack his ass. No. He looks like a problem…I don’t need no problem.”
According to Chicago police, Nightengale’s shooting spree on Saturday began at 1:50 p.m. when he fatally shot a 30-year-old man who was sitting inside a car on the 5300 block of South East End Avenue.
Ten minutes later, Nightengale stepped into an apartment building on the 4900 block of South East End Avenue and fired shots at a female security guard, police said. She later died at University of Chicago Medical Center. He also shot a 77-year-old woman who lives in the building as she collected her mail, according to CPD. She is in critical condition.
At 2:45 p.m., Nightengale entered a building on the 5000 block of South East End Avenue and pulled a gun on a male acquaintance, according to police. He pushed the man into his apartment, demanded the victim’s keys, and drove away with his car.
An hour later, Nightengale walked into a store on the 9300 block of South Halsted, announced a robbery, shot a 20-year-old man in the head. The victim died. Nightengale also shot an 81-year-old woman inside the store. She is in critical condition with gunshot wounds to her back and neck.
Around 5 p.m., Nightengale shot a 15-year-old girl in the head as she rode in a vehicle in the 10300 block of South Halsted, police said. She is in critical condition.
Minutes later, he went to the 9200 block of South Halsted and fired shots toward the crime scene at 9300 South Halsted, striking a CPD vehicle.
Around 5:30 p.m., officers in the Rogers Park neighborhood were notified that the car Nightengale stole from his acquaintance had been detected by CPD license plate readers near the 7600 block of North Sheridan Road. As police responded to that area, Evanston police officers radioed for Chicago cops to assist with an active shooter at CVS, 101 Asbury Ave.
According to police, Nightengale entered the store, announced a robbery, and fired shots before running across the street to an IHOP restaurant where he grabbed a woman and shot her in the neck. She is in critical condition.
Nightengale then ran from the restaurant and exchanged gunfire with arriving Evanston officers on a Dollar General store’s parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dozens of videos
Nightengale routinely posted short video clips to his Facebook page over the past two years. Dozens of recently-posted and disturbing videos remained on his account Saturday night.
In a video posted Wednesday, he talks about carjacking a woman. In another, he talks about “popping” a woman he’s seeing. “I might kill this bitch,” he said.
Over the next two days, Nightengale’s speech gradually deteriorates to the point of being almost unintelligible.
“Good morning, everybody,” he says after revealing a handgun he’s hidden under a backpack on the passenger seat of his car. “I’m getting ready to do this sh*t.”
He then drives up and down Lake Shore Drive, drinking from a liquor bottle, smoking, and recording himself on video as music blasts in the background.
As night falls Thursday, his speech is slow and slurred. Still sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, he pulls out his gun.
“No music. No. No music,” he mumbles as he brandishes the gun while driving. “I don’t need no seat belt. I’m coming, girl.”
Friday night, Nightengale posted a set of videos that appear to show a police car behind him with its blue lights activated, possibly during a traffic stop. His mental and physical capacities have obviously deteriorated.
Nightengale has worked as a security guard, in a warehouse, and on construction crews over the past couple of years, according to his social media posts.
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