A Chicago man has pleaded guilty to shooting at another vehicle on the Kennedy Expressway, an arrest prosecutors said was made easier because the victim remembered the gunman’s Superbad-inspired license plate: MCLOVN6.
An Illinois State Police report said the shooting happened in the outbound lanes of the Kennedy near Irving Park Road at about 5:38 a.m. on February 9, 2024. A 41-year-old man told investigators he pulled up behind a red BMW SUV with the plate MCLOVN6 that was swerving in and out of the left lane while traveling about 35 mph.
He flashed his lights, moved into another lane to pass, and that’s when he said he noticed the BMW’s driver pointing a silver handgun at him and heard a gunshot. The man called 911 and drove to the Jefferson Park District station to talk with Chicago police, who summoned state troopers. They found a bullet hole in the passenger door of his car.
The victim told investigators he couldn’t describe the shooter because he ducked the moment he saw the gun. But he remembered that Superbad-themed plate.
Troopers ran the plate through a database and went to the Northwest Side home of the registered owner, Daniel Morales. They found a red BMW parked outside and spotted a handgun lodged between the passenger seat and center console, according to their report. After impounding the BMW and obtaining a search warrant, investigators allegedly found a second gun inside the vehicle.
Police arrested Morales, who had a concealed carry license, but later released him pending further investigation, the report said. Troopers moved to revoke his firearm credentials the same day.
Prosecutors said a gunshot residue test on Morales’ hands came back positive. Lab testing also linked a bullet recovered from the victim’s car to one of Morales’ guns, prosecutors said when they filed charges about seven months later.
A grand jury returned a true bill indicting Morales on two counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle, court records show.
On Friday, Morales pleaded guilty to the aggravated discharge charge in exchange for a sentence of 180 days time served and two years of probation from Judge Laura Ayala-Gonzalez. She also ordered him to complete anger management counseling, attend a victim impact panel, and comply with other probation requirements. Prosecutors dropped the attempted murder charges.
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