IL: One person charged with murder in killings of four people on CTA Blue Line, police say

CHICAGO — Cook County prosecutors have charged one person with murder after four people were shot Monday on a train at the Forest Park Blue Line station, an early-morning attack that ranks among the worst acts of violence on the CTA system in living memory.

Cook County prosecutors have approved four counts of first-degree murder against Rhianni Davis, 30, according to Forest Park police. A news conference was scheduled for Tuesday night, where additional details are expected to be released.

Earlier Tuesday, the medical examiner’s office released the names of two of the four people killed Monday morning at the station, as authorities drew attention to safety problems on city trains that have long frustrated passengers.

Forest Park police were dispatched to the village’s Blue Line station shortly before 5:30 a.m. Monday after someone called 911 to report that three people had been shot inside a train car. Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while a fourth died at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, police said in a news release.

Adrian Collins, 60, died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, an autopsy revealed, while Simeon Bihesi, 28, died of multiple gunshot wounds. The identities of the other two victims have not yet been released.

All four deaths were ruled homicides.

Shortly after, Chicago police officers arrested a suspect on a CTA Pink Line train (authorities did not specify where the train was located) and a gun was recovered, according to Forest Park police.

In a prepared statement Monday, CTA Chairman Dorval R. Carter Jr. called the shooting “the definition of a heinous crime and a tragedy” and said all current information indicates it was an isolated incident.

“We extend our condolences to those who lost loved ones as a result of this senseless criminal act. Our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Carter said. “The safety of our passengers and employees is and remains our number one priority.”

The shooting is the first multiple-victim homicide on a CTA train in at least 30 years, according to city violence data. It is also the first fatal shooting this year on a CTA train or in a station. Another homicide occurred in January at the Roosevelt station in the South Loop, records show.

Hours after the shooting, Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins called the violence “an exceptional case,” but added that first responders from the village are frequently dispatched to the Blue Line station. Hoskins also called for more security resources at the station as part of a possible reorganization of local transit agencies.

“To the extent that our leaders in Springfield are considering any kind of reorganization of CTA transit, we ask them to consider investing additional resources in terms of security, public safety, law enforcement personnel, etc., to support a small community like Forest Park that has to respond to two major train lines that terminate in Forest Park,” Hoskins said.

At a news conference Monday, Hoskins said all four people killed were sleeping on the train. The victims’ housing status remains unknown, but advocates have highlighted the risks faced by people sheltering on trains and called for a “full continuum of services” to address the city’s homelessness problem.

“It’s a vulnerable situation if your existence is limited to riding a train and all you have is one or two bags that contain all your material possessions,” said David Wywialowski, director of health outreach at Night Ministry, which conducts outreach to the homeless at the Blue and Red Line terminals.

People experiencing homelessness may choose to sleep on public transit because “it’s a place where they feel safer than a multitude of options that are available to them,” said Doug Schenkelberg, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, noting that some people may feel unsafe in shelters or that the rules of a particular facility don’t suit them. Homeless advocates said trains also provide shelter from the elements and are equipped with surveillance cameras and lights.

Chicago has always taken a housing-first approach to getting people off the streets. Schenkelberg called for increased funding for permanent housing, but also for outreach and “the whole spectrum of services that need to be in place” to address homelessness. Details are scarce, but court records show Collins struggled financially in recent years and, in 2023, was evicted from a West Side apartment.

Outreach workers at stations help connect people to food and resources while emphasizing safety practices, like taking care of each other and staying in small groups, Wywialowski said.

“What is the heart and soul of Chicago and what does it mean to be a Chicagoan? Do we care about people and want to support them or do we accept walking past them and letting them suffer on the sidewalk?” Wywialowski said. “I believe in a Chicago that has a good heart and soul and wants to help its most vulnerable citizens.”

In a statement, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless called the killings “a stark example of a pattern of violence, suffering and cruelty that people experiencing homelessness face every day.”

“We cannot view this moment as a tragic and isolated incident, but must recognize that it is the direct result of… systemic failures,” the statement said.

The high-profile tragedy on a major Chicago-area transit line comes as the Illinois General Assembly continues to consider what transit in the region might look like in the future, including whether the CTA should be consolidated with Metra and Pace into a single agency and how to address an expected transit budget cliff when federal pandemic aid runs out, which could happen as early as 2025.

The region’s transportation agencies are facing a combined $730 million budget deficit, and the agencies have warned that failure to close that gap could lead to catastrophic service cuts and fare increases.

But at an unrelated event Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the “broader question” of why there isn’t enough security on the CTA needs to be addressed.

“And of course, Springfield is going to be a very important part of this. We’re not the only funder or the only partner that’s available, but we’re certainly trying to come up with a plan that makes sense for the future and that keeps transit riders safe,” Pritzker said. “But we need to make sure that we can afford not only to operate our current system the way it’s supposed to, but to build it, because we need more transit, not less.”

In recent months, the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee has held a series of hearings on how to improve the Chicago area’s transit systems in light of a potential fiscal cliff. On Tuesday, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat who leads the committee, said during the hearings that “we learned that nearly $100 million is being spent on security across the CTA, Metra and Pace transit systems.”

“How is the money being spent? Is it working? Clearly not,” Villivalam said. “And the third point is what can we do to improve the situation. I’m looking to take a holistic approach that avoids having five or six different entities trying to provide security.”

“We need to make sure that safety is the number one priority in our public transport and accountability and transparency in this regard are extremely important,” he said.

Villivalam also acknowledged that CTA Chairman Dorval Carter, who has faced intense criticism from people who believe he is running the transit agency ineffectively, must explain what happened Monday that led to the quadruple homicide.

“He’s attended all four Senate Transportation Committee hearings that we’ve had across the RTA region. That being said, there’s no question that it’s going to be impossible for the Illinois General Assembly to vote for funding even if the service plans for improvement and expansion are presented properly,” Villivalam said. “If people aren’t safe, if they don’t feel safe, that’s not something the Illinois General Assembly is going to move forward on.”

The mass shooting occurred less than a week after the CTA announced an AI-powered program that aims to more quickly alert police when weapons are detected at CTA stations.

Asked Tuesday whether the CTA’s new AI gun detection technology was used during or after the shooting, or whether the agency would send additional security guards to the area, the agency said the AI technology was not available on trains, only in stations.

“Beyond that, we are unable to comment on the specifics of our security strategies, including which sites are equipped with (AI) technology,” spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said in a statement. “That said, we can say that every day, CTA Security works in close coordination with the Chicago Police Department, as well as suburban police departments across CTA’s service region, to strategically deploy resources based on recent security data and information.”

(Sarah Freishtat of the Chicago Tribune contributed to this article.)