(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A shooting on a commuter train outside Chicago on Labor Day morning left four people dead.
Three people were pronounced dead at the Forest Park station, an above-ground stop on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line. The fourth victim died at a hospital. The suspect got away but was subsequently arrested on a train on a different route, Forest Park police said.
According to a report from Chicago’s local ABC affiliate, the shooter, 30-year-old Rhanni Davis, may be transgender.
“In 2013, court records show Davis filed a petition to change their birth name from James Wesley D McDavis, III, to Rhianni J. Davis,” ABC7 reported Wednesday, referring to Davis as “their.”
🚨🚨BREAKING: Another TRANS mass shooter:
Rhanni Davis is the suspect charged in the executions of 4 people on the Chicago Blue Line trains, yesterday. He has a history of gun charges that were all dismissed. Shocker.Davis has been charged in at least six criminal cases in… https://t.co/jANVZWtnSG pic.twitter.com/Ye1SwOXcXO
— Ms. Pistolicious (@mspistolicious) September 4, 2024
ABC7 also reported that Davis had a long criminal history dating back to at least 2014. Perhaps even more interesting is the revelation that the shooter was apparently licensed by the state of Illinois as a private security guard.
“Forest Park Police Detective Lt. Dan Pater told the I-Team “it appears” that the licensed individual is the same person who was arrested for Monday’s CTA shooting, but that investigators have yet to verify these details with the state,” ABC7 reported.
“In addition to the private security guard license, known in Illinois as a Permanent Employee Registration Card (PERC), this individual also had a Firearm Control Card and Firearms Instructor Card,” the news outlet reported.
“State officials told the I-Team those cards authorize a licensed security guard to carry a firearm while working, and indicate the license holder has been trained by a firearms instructor.”
Being a state-licensed security guard typically requires a background check.
That was the case with Allen, Texas, mass shooter Mauricio Garcia. His former employer, Ruiz Protective Service—a company founded by former FBI agent Hector Ruiz—told Headline USA last year that the state never reported Garcia’s purported mental-health issues when conducting the background check.
ABC7 didn’t mention any background check, nor has any other media outlet, apparently.
Chicago’s local NBC affiliate did report the unsurprising news that Davis was struggling with mental health issues before Monday’s shooting.
“I don’t really know how to diagnose mental illness, but he was not acting himself,” Davis’s mother, Laquita Lewis, reportedly told NBC 5 Investigates during an interview Thursday.
Lewis reportedly said “Davis was homeless and had been struggling with mental health issues for years after a person he was in a relationship with was killed,” according to NBC, which identified Davis as a male.
David faces four counts of first-degree murder.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
