Chicago police have made important progress as they work to arrest the people who brutally shot and robbed 23-year-old Dakotah Earley in Lincoln Park nearly one week ago, according to three sources who spoke with CWBChicago. And, one source said, investigators have established a “definitive” link between Earley’s case and a shooting near The Bean this week.
Earley’s family on Wednesday shared of picture of him resting at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center as his mother, Joy Dobbs, sat by his side.
“There’s nothing greater than a mother’s love for her child. ❤️,” Earley’s family said on their GoFundMe page, which has raised over $96,000 toward his recovery and other costs.
“He seems to becoming more alert each day, and more aware or his surroundings in the room. The doctors continue to monitor his left leg and foot as this has been one of the larger concerns,” the family said Wednesday. Surgeons planned to remove a bullet from his jaw later in the day.
On the investigative front, police have found a specific, concrete link between Earley’s case and a shooting on Michigan Avenue near The Bean on Tuesday evening, sources said.
Police who handled the Loop shooting quickly found a “very strong connection” with the Lincoln Park case and investigators have identified at least one suspect by name.
However, the sources all cautioned that compiling everything necessary to win a prosecutor’s approval of charges may time.
Another cited “challenges” that detectives “may not overcome right now.” This individual called the link between the two shootings “definitive.”
One suspect’s social media accounts, reviewed by CWB Chicago, include many images of himself posing with and pointing handguns.
Members of the robbery crew associated with Earley’s case are believed to have struck at least three more times in Uptown and Rogers Park shortly after the downtown shooting. But no associated robberies are known to have occurred Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.
Previous coverage
- Man, 23, critically wounded in Lincoln Park shooting (May 6, 2022)
- Video: Armed robber shoots man 3x in Lincoln Park after demanding phone password (May 6, 2022)
- 2 nights of armed robberies across Lakeview and Lincoln Park ends with victim critically injured by gunman (May 6, 2022)
- ‘This lawlessness has to be stopped!’ Alderman demands action after a man is shot, gravely wounded during North Side robbery spree (May 6, 2022)
- Lincoln Park shooting, robbery victim is identified in GoFundMe campaign (May 6, 2022)
- Robbers who shot a man in Lincoln Park also fired shots at another victim Wednesday, CPD report says (May 7, 2022)
- Lincoln Park shooting victim is on life support, family says: ‘We ARE NOT and WILL NOT lose hope or faith for Dakotah’ (May 7, 2022)
- 2 more men robbed at gunpoint in Lincoln Park overnight (May 9, 2022)
- Another armed robbery reported in Lincoln Park, Lakeview area this morning. Witness says a gunman threatened to shoot them if they helped the victim (May 9, 2022)
- Armed crews rob 4 more people in Lakeview overnight as violent hold-up pattern grows (May 10, 2022)
- 3 more armed robberies reported on North Side as cops explore a possible link to a shooting near “The Bean” (May 11, 2022)
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