The guy arrested on suspicion of being the shooter the other night? From Joliet. His getaway vehicle? The #36 bus. Which he was riding with a loaded gun under his seat.
Somewhere legions of Uptown gangsters are rolling their eyes.
According to the Tribune: "A Joliet man is accused of firing a handgun outside an Uptown ‘L’ station on Thursday evening before getting on a CTA bus and stowing the weapon under his seat. Prosecutors said Marcus M. Dixon, 22, was standing at the vestibule entrance to the Wilson Red Line station, 1107 W. Wilson Ave., when he fired the gun three times. A witness told officers he heard one shot and then saw Dixon fire twice more in a downward direction.
The witness called police, described Dixon’s clothing and said he saw the shooter board a southbound Broadway bus. Officers pulled the bus over at Broadway and Sheridan in the Lakeview neighborhood just before 6:45 p.m. They found Dixon in the rear of the bus with a semi-automatic pistol beneath his seat. The gun, which police said had a defaced serial number, was loaded with 11 live rounds."
Marcus Dixon, not to be confused with the football player or the character on Alias of the same name, is being held in Cook County Jail on $400,000 bond and will have a date with a judge on Thursday. He has a criminal record, not much of a shock for someone with his level of street smarts.
Interestingly, he committed his previous crimes in Cook County as well, which either means he's fibbing about the address where he actually sleeps at night, or he likes coming into the city to get his thrills.
Update: Similar story in the Sun-Times.
So, there's a rumor I've heard from a couple neighbors that the organization ONE... or maybe it was a similar "community" organization, was "hiring" gang members/criminals to shoot guns in Uptown randomly in an effort to keep the neighborhood from gaining private investment. They were doing this because they're upset Flats and the Alderman haven't been listening to them!! Total crap if this is true. I hope the police find out if anyone put this dumbass up to this. Or maybe he really is just a dumbass thug and can't aim?
ReplyDeleteWC,
Deletedon't underestimate the ability of dumbass criminals to not hit what they're shooting for. It's difficult to shoot a handgun with any accuracy unless you practice frequently and have a natural ability.
As for ONE or some other organization "hiring" bangers to fire weapons that seems rather farfetched. It would be stupid and counterproductive of them to do that not to mention CRIMINAL.
Now that doesn't mean that some members of ONE or similar groups might not welcome some occasional gunfire that didn't hit anyone. Such gunfire might further their agenda of keeping any "investment" that they didn't approve of out of Uptown. Secretly welcoming it on the part of a few members of such organizations is a whole lot different than paying bangers to shoot.
It's a variation on the German concept of "Schadenfreude" which is taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others. "Harm-joy" is used in wikipedia to describe the sensation or feeling.
Now after the Capplemaniac became alderman we had a period of heavy gang violence and shootings in Uptown. Lots of our friends over at JPUSA were trolling the UU Facebook page saying basically it was "worse than ever".
You could tell they likely had erect nipples when they were typing those messages. Their schadenfreude was obvious and the joy they were getting seemed downright sexual. One of the people who was posting has since left JPUSA. Bit of a scandal...thankfully not involving children that time.
ONE does run Ceasefire Uptown and Rogers Park and hires former gang members to intervene the violence. Maybe you're just getting confused in that? Their guys are really great for the community- you can see them walking around in bright orange jackets and t-shirts that say "ONE" or Ceasefire. I saw one on Wilson yesterday. I've met a bunch of the guys and they are really dedicated to improving the community. You can learn more about the Ceasefire program here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/interrupters/, and here: http://cureviolence.org/.
DeleteThere have been gangs in Joliet for years. Some of those gangs are affiliated with our local youth organizations...gangs.
ReplyDeleteNow Marcus might have grown up in Joliet or moved there from Chicago or closer in suburbs. His family might have moved out there to get him away from negative influences. However, he's an adult and no doubt knows how to take Metra from Joliet to downtown Chicago. Then hop on the CTA and it's a veritable easy ride to Uptown to shoot at rival bangers or someone who may have looked at you "funny".
I'm glad to see the Judge gave him a high bond amount. He will be sitting in there a long time.
ReplyDelete