Chicago, Illinois police have charged 18-year-old Derrien Johnson with shooting at two off-duty officers while he was on pretrial release for two felony gun cases involving minor court proceedings.
The shooting took place on June 3, when two cops were driving a car in the 1200 block of West 13th Street around evening time. According to court documents obtained by CWBChicago, several gunshots were fired towards their direction. A witness on a bicycle reportedly began shooting at the officers’ car, and a black sedan with an involved driver was spotted in the vicinity, corroborating the officers’ accounts.
The investigation led by the Chicago Police Department promptly identified Johnson as the gunman from surveillance footage. At the time of the shooting, Johnson was out of juvenile detention, awaiting trial on weapons charges from his teenage years.
The state contends that Johnson fired at the police vehicle multiple times. According to the judge’s detention order, Johnson already acknowledged firing the gun.
Among the justifications for keeping Johnson behind bars was the fact that he had admitted to shooting, and that he was on juvenile release for previous weapons violations. Johnson faces charges for attempting to discharge a firearm towards a parked car and distributing marijuana.
As yet, no charges have been filed connected to the officers’ occupations, as authorities have been unable to establish if Johnson was aware of their law enforcement status at the time of the incident. This recent event marks the 19th occurrence this year in Chicago of individuals being accused of attempting to kill or murder someone while on pretrial release.
