One man responsible for 3 random murders and other shootings in Chicago, Evanston, police say

A man named Jason Nightengale randomly killed three people in Chicago, wounded several others, shot a woman at an IHOP in Evanston, and got into a shootout with police before he was shot and killed Saturday night, police said.

Police said that Nightengale's first murder was in Hyde Park. They said he shot a 30-year-old man in the head in the Regents Park apartment complex garage located at 5300 South East End Avenue. On Sunday, University of Chicago officials said that the victim was Yiran Fan, 30, PhD student in the Joint Program in Financial Economics. He was from China.

The second murder was in Kenwood Saturday afternoon just a block from the parking garage. Randomly, police said, Nightengale walked into the entryway of an apartment building on South East End Avenue, asked to use a phone, then opened fire. A security guard was killed. A 77-year-old woman who was getting her mail was shot in the head. She is in critical condition.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said that from there, Nightengale went to the 19th floor of an apartment building on South East End Avenue, threatened a person and stole that person's Toyota.

Then, Brown said, Nightengale went to a convenience store on South Halsted to rob it. He randomly shot and killed a 20-year-old man, and wounded an 81-year-old victim. She is in critical condition. 

Afterwards, Brown said, Nightengale shot and wounded a 15-year-old girl who was riding in the back of a car on South Halsted on the South Side. She was hospitalized in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head. 

Then, Brown said, Nightengale went back to the convenience store and opened fire at officers, hitting no one.

On Saturday evening, Evanston police got a call about a man with a gun at the CVS on Asbury. Officers said Nightengale ran across the street, took a woman hostage inside an IHOP, and shot her. Her condition is not known.

Police chased Nightengale on Howard Street and engaged in a shootout in the parking lot of a Dollar General. Nightengale, 32, was killed. Police shared a photo they said was of his gun.

"When you hear this story, you have a crystal ball of where he's going next, but we didn't have a crystal ball of where he's going next," said Brown in answer to a question about what police were doing to stop the rampage. "He's going to the next spot while we try to keep up with what's happening previously. By the time we put it altogether, he's here in Evanston."


 

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