Update 5:01PM — During a just-concluded bond court hearing, prosecutors said Brown is not a felon and he only charged with unlawful use of a weapon — not unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as announced by Chicago police. Also, Brown is NOT accused of firing any shots. Once again, that was a claim made in a press release issued by CPD. Those points have been updated in the following report.
Update 10:45AM — Cops said they discovered a gun in Jushawn Brown’s pants pocket after his girlfriend, the infant’s grandmother, told police that he was carrying a weapon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. During a probable cause hearing early Thursday, Brown spoke up to correct the record when it was alleged that he was carrying a handgun manufactured by Ruger.
“It’s not a Ruger. It’s a Bersa,” Brown said.
Prosecutors have filed felony gun charges against the man who was driving the car in which 21-month-old Kayden Swann was shot during a road rage confrontation on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park on Tuesday morning.
Police continue to search for the other driver who fired the shot that struck Kayden in his right temple, leaving him in grave condition, CPD spokesperson Tom Ahern tweeted early today.
Jushawn Brown, identified in a police report as the 43-year-old boyfriend of Kayden’s grandmother, is charged with unlawful use of a weapon. More details about the incident may emerge during his bond court appearance this afternoon.
Brown pulled out a gun as the two cars traveled north on Lake Shore Drive between Roosevelt and Buckingham Fountain shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Another motorist drove Kayden, Brown, and the grandmother to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after their car crashed into another vehicle near Monroe after the shooting.
Police found a gun in Brown’s possession at the hospital and took him into custody, according to a CPD statement.
Police found at least eight shell casings strewn along two blocks of Lake Shore Drive after the shooting. A dashcam video in another vehicle captured part of the incident and allowed police to broadcast a detailed description of the man who shot into the car Brown, Kayden, and the grandmother were in.
Kayden was transferred from Northwestern to Lurie Children’s Hospital for treatment.
Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, the medical director of Lurie’s pediatric intensive care unit, said yesterday that Kayden remained “in very critical condition” with a severe brain injury.