CHICAGO — The Walgreens employee Chicago police say shot another man during a dispute inside the company’s Old Town store has faced weapons-related charges five times since 2018, most recently in June, according to court records, but he has only been convicted once.
Lamont Morris, 26, is currently charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the incident at the store, 1601 North Wells, on Saturday. He is not criminally charged with shooting the other man. Judge Maryam Ahmad released Morris with a curfew to await trial.
Police said a 32-year-old man who knows Morris entered the store just before midnight and pulled out a gun during an “altercation” with Morris. Morris allegedly pulled out his own firearm, and the men engaged in a shootout on aisle 13. Morris suffered a graze wound to his chest, but the other man was critically wounded, according to CPD.
Court records show Morris was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm on June 12, but prosecutors dropped the case on August 31.
During his bond hearing on June 13, prosecutor Victor Aberdeen said Morris was inside a woman’s residence when Cook County sheriff’s deputies arrived to evict the woman. Morris was not the target of the eviction.
Deputies said they found the woman and Morris in a back room, with Morris holding a black bag. They told Morris he could leave, but the bag would be subject to a search, Aberdeen continued.
Morris tried to remove an object from the bag as he set it down, and he dropped a t-shirt as a deputy grabbed his hand, instructing him not to remove the item, according to Aberdeen.
The t-shirt made a “metallic clanking noise” when it hit the floor, Aberdeen alleged. He said deputies found a 9-millimeter handgun inside the garment and Morris’ ID and phone inside the black bag.
His defense attorney during the hearing said he had worked for Walgreens since 2015 and was recently promoted to management.
Court records show Morris was arrested for felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in July 2018, and he received probation six months later.
About two months after that, in September 2018, he was charged with misdemeanor possession of ammunition without a firearm owner’s ID card, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped the case within five weeks.
He was charged with possessing a replica firearm during a traffic stop in November 2019, but a judge found no probable cause and threw the case out less than a month later.
In February 2020, Morris was charged with misdemeanor possession of a firearm without a FOID card, possession of ammunition, and reckless conduct. He was found not guilty in August 2021.
He was also charged with misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon in November 2020, according to the court records. Prosecutors dropped the matter in March 2022.
