Four CTA lines faced “significant delays” early Tuesday morning as police were working to investigate a shooting on a CTA train in the Loop that left one person dead and another injured.
About 1:22 a.m., in the 100 block of N. Wells St., a 23-year-old man and a 44-year-old man were on a CTA train in the 100 block of N. Wells when they got into an argument with an unknown man who had a knife, police said.
The altercation became physical, and one of the victims pulled out a gun. At that time, the unknown man grabbed the weapon and fired, police said.
The 44-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was later identified by authorities as Raymond Harrison Jr.
The 23-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the left wrist and was also transported to a nearby hospital, where he was last listed in fair condition.
The suspect fled in an unknown direction, police said, and no one was in custody.
As many as four lines were impacted by the investigation, including the Brown, Green, Orange and Pink lines. As of 6:30 a.m., the four lines were running with “residual delays following an earlier medical emergency,” a rider alert on the CTA website said.
“Trains are moving and normal service is being restored,” the CTA said. “Allow extra travel time.”
Earlier Tuesday morning, police officers could be seen canvassing the CTA platform and on a train at Washington and Wells, and searching in dumpsters in nearby alleys. Two people could be seen taken down from the elevated platform on stretchers, NBC 5’s Jenn Schanz reported.
The shooting investigation comes days after the Federal Transit Administration rejected a “security surge” recently announced by the Chicago Transit Authority, which said more police officers and K-9s could expect to be seen on CTA property. According to the plan, sworn Chicago Police officers could sign up to patrol the CTA on their days off as part of a Voluntary Special Employment Program, and would be compensated by the CTA.
The CTA announced the plan after the FTA threatened to withhold federal funds from agency if local officials didn’t implement stronger safety measures following a series of violent attacks, including one where a 26-year-old woman was set on fire on a Blue Line train.
Hours after the CTA revealed the plan, the FTA said it “fails to measurably reduce incidents of assaults and improve overall safety on buses and trains.”
“If people’s safety is at risk, so are federal funds,” FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro said in a statement. “CTA must act to save lives and improve safety.”
On Dec 19, the CTA said it has received the federal government’s response and will respond within the allotted time frame of 30 days.
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