Many Chicagoans were left scratching their heads when prosecutors refused to file any charges against five men suspected of being involved in a fatal shootout that was captured on video and witnessed by Chicago police officers on October 1.
We tweeted footage of the shootout three days later:
According to the Sun-Times, a CPD report said prosecutors declined to pursue charges in the shooting on the 1200 block of North Mason because the gunfight participants were “mutual combatants.”
Thursday afternoon, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, CPD Supt. David Brown, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced felony gun charges against one man in the case.
Thomas Dean, 20, will have a bail hearing Friday as he faces three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Foxx said new evidence allowed her office to proceed with the charges and added that a search warrant has been approved for another suspect in the shootout. More charges will be announced, she said.
Meanwhile, CWBChicago has learned of an interesting twist.
On December 23, Chicago police officers took Thomas Dean into custody for questioning in the ongoing murder investigation stemming from October’s shootout, according to a source.
He initially ran from the cops, but he fell, and a 40-caliber handgun “fell from his person,” a prosecutor told Judge David Navarro during a Christmas Eve bond hearing.
The prosecutor added that Dean was adjudicated delinquent of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm in 2018. His public defender said he had one child, worked part-time in a warehouse, and lived with his grandmother.
Navarro ordered Dean held in lieu of $100,000 bail during the hearing, and Dean posted a 10% deposit bond and went home on December 27, according to court records.
We’ll keep you up-to-date with any new information revealed during his Friday bail hearing.