Man accused of killing 4 people on Chicago-area L train to appear in court

MAYWOOD, Ill. — A 30-year-old man accused of killing four people as they slept aboard a Chicago-area transit train was due in bail court Wednesday.

The Labor Day shooting happened before 5:30 a.m. aboard Chicago’s L train, which was traveling near where the Blue Line ends in suburban Forest Park, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of downtown Chicago. Rhanni S. Davis, of Chicago, was arrested later Monday on another Chicago Transit Authority train line and charged Tuesday with four counts of first-degree murder.

Investigators have not determined the motive.

“The question of why may never be answered,” Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx said at a news conference Tuesday.

She called the shootings a “horrific, heinous and inexplicable act of violence” and said more details would be revealed at Wednesday’s hearing.

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins told The Associated Press that the victims likely did not even see the shooter, saying they were shot at point-blank range while they were sleeping.

Margaret Miller, 64, and three men, including Simeon Bihesi, 28, and Adrian Collins, 60, were fatally shot, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. All of their addresses were listed as unknown. The name of the fourth person has not yet been released as police are still working to notify next of kin.

A preliminary police investigation revealed the victims were in two separate cars as the Blue Line train headed to Forest Park. The Blue Line runs 24 hours a day from the suburb through downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport. It runs both underground and above ground.

Police later located Davis through video footage, Hoskins said.

“This was an isolated and very random incident,” CTA Chairman Dorval Carter Jr. said Tuesday night.

Public records did not list a phone number for Davis. Messages sent to a listed email address were not answered. Forest Park police and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office did not respond to messages about Davis’ legal representation. The Cook County Public Defender’s Office did not immediately respond to a message Wednesday.

Davis was scheduled to appear in court at noon in suburban Maywood.