The man who drove an Uptown shooting victim to a hospital for treatment Saturday morning faces a felony gun charge after police allegedly found a handgun on the front seat of his car.
Officers who went to Weiss Hospital to see if anyone came in with gunshot wounds after shots were fired in the area around 11:30 a.m. discovered a black Infiniti riddled with bullet holes in the hospital’s emergency entrance, prosecutors said.
Cops ordered the car’s driver, Edward Freeman, to get out of the car and realized that he was “covered in blood,” an assistant state’s attorney said. When officers asked Freeman if he was OK, he reportedly said he wasn’t hurt and said he was concerned for his friend, whom he had driven to the hospital.
Freeman, 21, was arrested after police allegedly found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun with an extended magazine and laser sight on his car’s front passenger seat. He admitted to owning the gun, prosecutors said.
The man Freeman dropped off at the hospital, also 21, was shot when someone opened fire on the car he was sitting in on the 900 block of West Montrose, police said. He was transferred from Weiss to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition with a gunshot wound to his back.
Assistant Public Defender Courtney Smallwood pointed out that the car Freeman was driving is registered to the shooting victim, and Freeman is not accused of using or displaying the handgun.
Judge Susana Ortiz said she was concerned that the weapon police allegedly found is a so-called “ghost gun,” constructed and traded outside the usual manufacturing channels.
“Ghost guns are a particularly dangerous type of weapon as they are not able to be traced,” Ortiz said as she ordered Freeman held in lieu of $10,000 bail. He must post a 10% deposit and go onto electronic monitoring to get out of jail.
Please support CWBChicago’s reporting efforts with a contribution or subscription. Members-only perks await!