#58: Man opened fire on cops in traffic — while on bond for felony gun case, prosecutors say

Prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man with firing a gun at two Chicago cops who were behind his car in a CPD vehicle last week. Neither officer was injured, but Jacques Walker was on bail for a pending felony gun case at the time of the incident.

He is the 58th person accused of killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony. A total of 85 victims are involved in those crimes.

Walker was the front passenger of a vehicle stopped at a red light at 79th Street and Vincennes Avenue around 11 p.m. Sunday when the police unit pulled up behind them, prosecutors said. CPD said the officers, a male and a female, were in a marked patrol car, but prosecutors said the vehicle was unmarked.

When the light turned green, a man with long dreadlocks wearing a ski mask leaned out of the passenger car’s front driver’s seat and fired a shot at the police officers, according to prosecutors. Neither the cops nor their vehicle was struck.

A CPD surveillance camera recorded the shooting.

Officer pursued the vehicle and arrested its driver and a passenger. Walker ran from the car and was arrested nearby, prosecutors said. According to the allegations, he had long dreads and had a ski mask when the officers took him into custody. Both of the officers identified Walker as the gunman who shot at them, prosecutors said.

His public defender, Suzin Farber, said Walker is the father of newborn twins. She pointed out that a gunshot residue test of Walker’s hands came back negative.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault by discharging a firearm. Judge Kelly McCarthy ordered him held in lieu of $150,000 bail. He must post 10% of that amount to get out of jail on electronic monitoring while the case is pending under McCarthy’s order.

Walker has a pending felony gun possession case that started when police allegedly found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun and 13 suspected ecstasy pills in his pocket during a field interview over the summer. Judge Arthur Willis allowed him to get out of jail by posting $500 in that case.

Separate from McCarthy’s bail conditions in the shooting, Walker is being held without bail for violating the terms of bond in the gun case.

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