CHICAGO — A man accused of being the second gunman involved in a mass shooting earlier this month was on probation for burglary and AWOL from a pending felony gun case when he opened fire on the victims at a liquor store in Back of the Yards, prosecutors said.
A total of five people, including a woman accused of being one of the other shooters, were injured during the shooting at Goldmore Food & Liquors, 1949 West 51st Street, around 8:34 p.m. on March 14.
Prosecutors said surveillance video showed the woman, 21-year-old Angela Flores, pulling out a gun, racking the slide, and then opening fire on victims who had been playing gaming machines inside the store.
A second video allegedly shows Luis Vargas, 24, and at least one other person firing into the liquor store from outside.
Vargas and Flores “instigated” the confrontation with the group inside the store, Judge Mary Marubio wrote in a detention order that will keep Flores in jail pending trial.
She said witnesses and video footage allowed investigators to identify Vargas and Flores.
Vargas is charged with three counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting three victims: a 22-year-old man who was struck in the chest, a 47-year-old man hit in the abdomen, and a 46-year-old man struck in the wrist.
Chicago police officers who arrested Vargas said he had a pistol with an extended magazine in his waistband when they took him into custody.
Last April, prosecutors said Vargas provided a written confession to having a defaced firearm inside a crossbody bag that he tossed while running away from cops in the 5400 block of South Winchester. Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered him detained on the gun charge.
But court records show Vargas was released from custody when prosecutors dropped the case months later. Then, they refiled the charges in August 2024. Vargas showed up for court when the charges were re-filed, but he left before his detention hearing was held. A judge signed a warrant for his arrest and it was still active at the time of the shooting.
He is the fourth person accused of shooting or trying to shoot someone in Chicago this year while on felony pretrial release. Those four individuals are accused of killing or trying to kill 16 people, including 9 Chicago police officers.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that a judge released Vargas from custody in connection with the April 2024 gun case. This story has been corrected to reflect that the charges were dropped, then refiled, and he walked out of court before his detention hearing.
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.
