Chicago-area L train shooting suspect to be…

MAYWOOD, Ill. (AP) — The suspect in a mass shooting on a Chicago-area transit train systematically shot three sleeping passengers at point-blank range before moving to a second car and shooting a man who tried to protect himself, prosecutors said Wednesday.

New details about the Labor Day shooting that has shaken Chicago-area residents were revealed at an initial court appearance, where a judge ordered Rhanni S. Davis, 30, to remain in custody until her trial. Davis is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the killings that occurred aboard an L Blue Line train approaching suburban Forest Park.

Prosecutors said Davis wore a mask as he moved from one victim to the next, but they did not provide a motive for the shooting.

One person, Margaret Miller, 64, was shot in the back of the head, prosecutors said. Another victim, Adrian Collins, 60, “raised his hand in a defensive posture” to try to shield himself from the gunfire, Cook County Assistant Prosecutor Eugene Wood said in court. Collins, who was in the second car, later died at a hospital.

Another victim was identified as Simeon Bihesi, 28, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. The name of a 52-year-old man who was killed was not released because law enforcement was unable to locate his next of kin.

“The facts alleged by the state are absolutely horrific and appalling,” Cook County Judge Elizabeth Ciaccia-Lezza said.

She said evidence presented in the suburban courtroom, including video footage, shell casings and tests showing gunshot residue on the suspect’s hands, showed Davis was a “real and present threat” to the public.

Davis, who wore a beige prison jumpsuit with handkerchiefs in his pocket, said only one word during the brief hearing, telling the judge “RAH-nee” when asked how to pronounce Rhanni.

The shooting, which happened around 5 a.m. Monday on a 24-hour train line, also raised questions about how the Chicago Transit Authority handles homelessness. While authorities have not said whether the victims were homeless, the medical examiner’s office said their addresses are unknown and law enforcement has been unable to locate the 52-year-old’s relatives.

Attorneys provided few details about Davis, whose criminal history prosecutors briefly described included a 2020 arrest for disorderly conduct.

Public Defender Robert Fox said Davis graduated from Chicago Public Schools, trained to work in security and home health care, and had briefly worked at Taco Bell.

Security was tight in the small courtroom, packed with about a dozen armed officers. Davis was handcuffed at the feet, waist and hands. A guard kept a hand on Davis’ arm throughout the hearing.

That same day, Forest Park police released video from the station related to the shooting, which shows a person police believe to be a witness jumping from a moving Blue Line train onto the L station platform moments before Davis, wearing a dark top and a black mask, exits the train.

The Blue Line runs from O’Hare International Airport through downtown Chicago and ends in Forest Park, where over the years social service agencies have provided services to people who use the train as shelter, particularly in the winter.

Organizations including the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless said the shooting shows the need for more funding for housing. Gov. JB Pritzker said CTA security needs to be improved.

Police used CTA video footage to track Davis down hours after the shooting on another train, prosecutors said.

Davis’ next court date has been set for September 27.

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This version corrects some details revealed in court. Prosecutors say it was Adrian Collins, 60, who raised his hand in defense, not the 52-year-old man whose name has not been released.