A 19-year-old man is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a security guard and two other people while trying to steal flowers and a greeting card from a Jewel-Osco store in Bronzeville last year.
Prosecutors allege Elijah Theodore entered the store at 443 East 34th Street around 10:45 a.m. on November 11 with an accomplice, grabbed several flower bouquets and a card, and attempted to leave without paying.
A 46-year-old security guard, who prosecutors say knew Theodore by name, tried to stop him. Theodore allegedly shoved the guard multiple times before pulling out a gun and opening fire, striking the guard and two other employees.
Responding officers applied tourniquets to the guard’s blood loss before paramedics transported him to a hospital in serious condition. A 39-year-old female employee was shot in the foot and taken to a hospital in good condition. A 67-year-old female customer sustained a graze wound but declined medical treatment, according to an initial CPD statement.
Witnesses said customers and employees scrambled for safety, taking cover in back rooms and at least one walk-in freezer. Two people suffered minor injuries from falls, according to an officer at the scene.
Theodore and his alleged accomplice fled before officers arrived, but both the security guard and witnesses identified him by name, according to prosecutors. He was recently located in Maricopa County, Arizona, and extradited to Chicago to face charges.
At a detention hearing, Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered Theodore detained pending trial, calling the crime “brazen, violent, and senseless.” At the time of the shooting, Theodore had an active warrant for failing to appear in court for a misdemeanor resisting police charge.
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