Sylvester Adams CTA worker charged with attempted murder for shooting passenger Jeremy Begay who shoved him at Chicago’s 95th Red Line station.
A Chicago Transit Authority worker has been charged with attempted murder charge after allegedly shooting a ‘violent’ passenger after being shoved to the ground in an incident captured on video.
Sylvester Adams, 53, was taken into custody early Saturday morning following the shooting at the 95th Red Line station.
The CTA worker was charged with felony first-degree attempted murder and felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon WGN reported.
The victim, identified as a 37-year-old Jeremy Begay, was taken to the University of Chicago hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds to his back, abdomen, and left leg.
Chicago Police said Begay had been disturbing customers in the train station leading up to the argument that escalated to a fight just before 2 a.m. on Saturday.
CTA 95th Red Line Station 95/Red Line: person shot! got about 7 shell casings on the stairwell. The “shooter” has been detained w/ a weapon recovered, he has a valid FOID but no CCL. Male shot in the back, abdomen & R leg. #Chicago pic.twitter.com/KqNX2pnS8t
— LockharTVMedia (@LockharTVMedia) March 26, 2022
‘He got his pipe, boy,’
Video posted by the @CPD1617Scanner Twitter account shows an ensuing ‘altercation’ between the two men, with Begay shoving the worker to the ground.
He then flees down the stairs at the station.
Adams regains his composure as he pulls out a gun and limps over to the stairs.
‘He got his pipe, boy,’ a bystander at the station is heard on the video saying.
The CTA worker pauses at the top of the stairs and starts firing several shots at the man, hitting him, police said.
‘My brother clearly in the video shows him trying to talk off,’ the victim’s sister Francena Bischoff told NBC Chicago. ‘But he (Adams) is pursuing and then my brother walks off and (he) follows him when he’s already down the escalator.’
CTA said the worker was employed as a customer assistant and was not allowed to carry a firearm.
Chicago violent crime
‘Based on our own investigation, we can also confirm that this employee was in violation of several CTA workforce rules, including one that expressly prohibits the possession of a firearm,’ the agency said in a statement.
‘The behavior of this one employee is not at all reflective of the thousands of hardworking and dedicated men and women who take pride in their work and responsibly perform their duties each day,’ the agency added.
The CTA is ‘pursuing termination’ of the employee, the agency said.
Adams is scheduled to be in bond court on Sunday.
The violent incident comes as Chicago experiences ongoing violent crime.
While murders are roughly flat so far in 2022 compared to last year, they are up 24 percent from 2020 and 74 percent from 2019.
The Chicago Transit Authority, meanwhile, recorded a spike in crime of 56 percent in January and February, according to the Chicago Tribune.
