A Calumet City man is charged with shooting two people at the 79th Street Red Line station earlier this year, and prosecutors say the entire thing was caught on video. Aveon Mims, 18, was arrested after two Chicago police Mass Transit officers recognized him from surveillance images a detective had distributed following the March 8 shooting.
Prosecutors allege Mims was riding the Red Line when an altercation broke out before the train stopped at 79th Street shortly before 1 a.m. CTA surveillance video, according to authorities, shows Mims holding a black pistol in his right hand during the confrontation before he and another person stepped off the train onto the platform. A fight then broke out, allegedly between Mims and several others, which was also captured on CTA cameras.
Prosecutors say Mims broke away from the group and approached the first victim, a 21-year-old man near the station doorway, and shot him in the left side of the chest. Mims then allegedly chased the second victim, a 23-year-old man, on foot. That man tripped and fell as he passed through the turnstile, and Mims fired at least two rounds at him while he was on the ground, striking him in the lower back and upper buttock area, prosecutors said. Both shootings were captured on video, according to authorities. Mims then fled the station on foot.
When taken into custody recently, Mims initially denied shooting anyone, then told police it was self-defense, claiming the group had jumped and robbed him, according to prosecutors. Judge Ankur Srivastava detained Mims, who is charged with two counts of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon.
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