Chicago — On a sunny Saturday afternoon last August, a shootout between a pedestrian and a drive-by gunman left a 59-year-old bystander shot near the Argyle Red Line station.
So far, no one has been charged with shooting the man. But two people have now been charged with possessing one of the guns that were allegedly used in the gunfire.
Officials said two men were standing on the sidewalk at Kenmore and Argyle around 3 p.m. when a silver Nissan rolled by, and gunmen opened fire on them from inside the vehicle. The two men ducked behind a car, and one started shooting at the Nissan, which sped west on Argyle.
Bullets flew through the windows of businesses, leaving a 59-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his right shoulder.
Last September, prosecutors accused Kevin Cousins, 21, of being the man who pulled out a gun and fired on the Nissan from behind a parked car. They said he was on electronic monitoring for aggravated battery of a peace officer at the time of the shootout.
Prosecutors charged Cousins with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. He was not criminally charged with firing the gun or shooting anyone.
Chicago police surveillance video showed Cousins passing the gun to a second man, 13-time convicted felon Antwon Van, after the shooting, prosecutors said Wednesday. Van allegedly took the weapon and ran into his nearby apartment building.
CPD officers who work in the local police district recognized Van from the video, but he remained on the loose until Tuesday when the manager of a “troubled building” in the 4900 block of North Kenmore asked officers to evict a “squatter” who took up residence on the sixth floor, officials said. Van was the so-called squatter, and the cops took him into custody.
Van, 43, is charged with Class X armed habitual criminal for allegedly running from the shooting scene with a gun in his hand.
Noting Van’s 13 felony convictions, prosecutor Lorraine Scaduto said he would have 14 convictions, but his latest felony drug charge was pleaded down to a misdemeanor.
Judge Charles Beach ordered Van to pay a $15,000 bail deposit to go home on electronic monitoring.