Man who was driving when child shot on Lake Shore Drive charged with having gun without FOIDon April 9, 2021 at 1:41 am

Bail was set at $5,000 Thursday for a man who was behind the wheel when a child was critically wounded in a road rage shooting this week on Lake Shore Drive after he was hit with a felony gun charge for possessing a weapon without proper state identification.

Jushawn Brown, 43, was found with a handgun when police officers asked whether he had “anything he wasn’t supposed to have” while at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, where the 1-year-old boy was taken after being shot in the head, prosecutors said in court Thursday afternoon. Contrary to initial police reports, there was no evidence, prosecutors said, that Brown fired his weapon or displayed it during the road rage incident.

Prosecutors initially described Brown as the wounded boy’s grandfather, but a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s later clarified that he’s “in a relationship” with the boy’s grandmother.

Brown told the officers about the gun, which he called his “protection,” and allowed the officers to take the loaded 9-mm handgun from him, prosecutors said.

Shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting did not match the gun.

Because of that, Judge Charles Beach said he would release Brown to be with his family but sternly warned him to not miss any court dates if he posts the required $500 bond to be released.

“Mr. Brown, if there’s any time for being with your family and staying home with your family, now is that time,” Beach said.

Brown, of Englewood, was driving his car on Lake Shore Drive about 11:30 a.m. when an SUV that attempted to merge onto the highway nearly struck his car near Soldier Field, prosecutors said.

Brown pulled over and yelled at the driver of the SUV and the two exchange words until the driver of the SUV pulled out a gun and showed it to Brown while asking him, “What did he want to do about it,” prosecutors said.

Brown took out his own gun and placed it on his lap before attempting to drive away from the SUV, which followed him.

The driver of the SUV then fired several shots at Brown’s car near the Shedd Aquarium, striking the vehicle several times. One of the bullets entered through the rear passenger window where the boy was seated in a car seat, striking the toddler in the head.

Brown continued to drive north until he lost control of his car and crashed.

A good Samaritan picked up Brown, Brown’s girlfriend and the child and drove them to Northwestern Hospital for treatment. The boy was later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital.

The child, Kayden Swann, suffered a severe brain injury and was put in a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator, Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Lurie, said. The boy has shown some signs of improvement, Malakooti said Thursday in the hospital’s most recent update about the boy’s condition.

Prosecutors said the driver of the SUV has not been taken into custody as police continue to investigate.

Earlier Thursday, officers shut down the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive near the Field Museum for about an hour to canvass the area as part of that investigation, police said.

An assistant public defender said Brown has two children, ages 16 and 21, and works as a machine operator at Blommer Chocolate Company.

Brown’s attorney asked for her client to be released on his own recognizance, saying he appeared to be a very “honest gentleman.”

Beach said that because there was no indication that the driver of the SUV even knew Brown had a weapon worked in his favor.

“Which means the other individual didn’t know you were armed and that was not a response to your actions. They were acting aggressively on their own accord,” Beach said.

However, the judge, citing the class 4 felony Brown faces — calling it a “serious offense” — said Brown should have to post some money to be released.

“The reality is that weapons unfortunately lead to this very scenario,” Beach said.

Brown was expected back in court Wednesday.

Man who was driving when child shot on Lake Shore Drive charged with having gun without FOIDon April 9, 2021 at 1:41 am Read More »

Yermin Mercedes, White Sox treat fans to spectacular starton April 9, 2021 at 12:38 am

The White Sox talked about putting on a show for the fans in their home opener at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday, and then they put one on.

The first inning alone was worth the wait for fans, who were allowed back in the ballpark for the first time since 2019. Yermin Mercedes, the toast of baseball and the first American League’s first Player of the Week after an 8-for-8 start, launched a 485-foot homer against Royals right-hander Brad Keller. Many of the 8,207 fans — a socially distanced sellout with 22 percent capacity permitted — were still on their feet after cheering Yoan Moncada’s opposite field homer, his first of the year.

That came after Jose Abreu, responding to chants of “MVP,” lined a double to right center with two out and nobody on.

Mercedes’ blast, his second of the season, added another sensational layer to the start to his unthinkable beginning to the season. Only Joe Borchard (504 feet) on Aug. 30, 2004 against the Phillies and and Frank Thomas (495 feet) on July 23, 2002 against the Twins, traveled farther on the Sox’ list of longest blasts at Guaranteed Rate Field.

On the pitching side, right-hander Lance Lynn struck out Whit Merrifield, Jason Benintendi and Carlos Santana in order in the first, then reeled off another nine outs in a row and held the Royals scoreless through seven innings.

Lynn, an offseason trade acquisition pitching in a Sox home uniform for the first time, became the first Sox from a highly-touted starting rotation to complete more than 5 ²/₃ innings.

Lynn was perfect through four innings and it was a nearly perfect home opener against a Central Division rival for fans who had to wait out a two hour delay after a scheduled 3:10 p.m. start, even without injured stars Eloy Jimenez and Tim Anderson out of the lineup.

And it was looking like a nice start at home after the Sox’ rocky 3-4 start on the road against the Angels and Mariners. The Sox played poorly defensively, didn’t run the bases well and their well-regarded bullpen surrendered three leads.

“It’s nice to have small sample sizes to overreact to,” general manager Rick Hahn said before the game.

The shaky start, Anderson said, meant nothing.

“We just keep rolling. We push and learn from it,” Anderson said before the game. “Can’t change the last three to five games, all we can do is learn from those and keep pushing.

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Grandfather of child shot on Lake Shore Drive charged with having gun without FOIDon April 8, 2021 at 11:16 pm

Bail was set at $5,000 Thursday for the grandfather of a child critically wounded in a road rage shooting this week on Lake Shore Drive while he faces a felony gun charge for possessing a weapon with a state license.

Brown told the officers about the gun, which he called his “protection,” and allowed the officers to take the loaded 9-mm handgun from him, prosecutors said.

Shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting did not match the gun, and there was no indication that Brown fired his weapon or displayed it during the road rage incident, prosecutors said.

Because of that, Judge Charles Beach said he would release Brown to be with his family but sternly warned him to not miss any court dates if he posts the required $500 bond to be released.

“Mr. Brown, if there’s any time for being with your family and staying home with your family, now is that time,” Beach said.

Brown, of Englewood, was driving his car on Lake Shore Drive about 11:30 a.m. when an SUV that attempted to merge onto the highway nearly struck his car near Soldier Field, prosecutors said.

Brown took out his own gun and placed it on his lap before attempting to drive away from the SUV, which followed him.

The driver of the SUV then fired several shots at Brown’s car near the Shedd Aquarium, striking the vehicle several times. One of the bullets entered through the rear passenger window where Brown’s grandson was seated in a car seat, striking the 22-month-old child in the head.

Brown continued to drive north until he lost control of his car and crashed.

A good Samaritan picked up Brown, Brown’s girlfriend and the child and drove them to Northwestern Hospital for treatment. The boy was later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital.

The child, Kayden Swann, suffered a severe brain injury and was put in a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator, Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Lurie, said. The boy has shown some signs of improvement, Malakooti said in the hospital’s most recent update about the boy’s condition.