CHICAGO — Prosecutors on Friday charged a man with a shooting that left two people injured near the Chicago Theatre in the Loop three years ago. Police have said the injured men were not the intended targets.
Roderick Oneal, 21, had been placed on felony pretrial release for a narcotics charge just five weeks before the shooting occurred on May 1, 2022. He is the 65th person accused of shooting or trying to shoot someone in Chicago this year while on felony pretrial release. Those 65 people are accused of shooting, killing, or trying to shoot or kill 110 victims, 30 of whom died.
Surveillance video showed a group of men entering Taco Bell, 178 North Wabash, shortly after 4 p.m. on the day of the shooting. They settled in, and one man ordered a drink from the counter. Another group arrived within minutes. An apparent drug transaction occurred between the two groups near the front of the restaurant, and things quickly turned sour.
The second group closed in on the first and rifled through their pockets before leaving. A member of the first group, wearing a Philadelphia Phillies jacket, retreats into the restaurant and then appears to emerge with a gun in his hand as he runs south on Wabash.
Officials said three “robbery victims” chased three thieves out of the restaurant and then began shooting at the robbers. Those rounds traveled down Benton Place, an alley that runs between Wabash and State Street, and struck two men who were standing outside the Chicago Theatre’s rear entrance, police said at the time.
One bullet passed through a 55-year-old man’s ear and lodged in his neck, CPD’s Chief of Detectives at the time, Brendan Deenihan, said. That victim was on break from his job as a stagehand at the theater. Another bullet struck a 27-year-old man in his hand.
CPD also released this video from the restaurant:
On Friday, prosecutors charged Oneal with aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle. Judge Rivanda Doss Beal ordered him detained pending trial.
On March 24, 2022, Chicago police arrested Oneal on narcotics charges in the 1300 block of South Sacramento. He was on bond for that case at the time of the downtown shooting. Court records show he eventually pleaded guilty and successfully completed probation.
The “not horrible” series
This report continues our coverage of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others on pretrial release for a felony allegation. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated, “We haven’t had any horrible incidents occur” under the court’s bond reform initiative.
The actual number of murders and shootings committed by people awaiting trial for felony allegations is undoubtedly much higher than the numbers seen here. Since 2017, CPD has brought charges in less than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, according to the city’s data.
Previous reporting
2025 “not horrible” cases
2024 “not horrible” cases
2023 “not horrible” cases
2022 “not horrible” cases
2021 “not horrible” cases
2020 “not horrible” cases
2019 “not horrible” cases
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