Man fires 19 shots at cops while hunting rivals on South Side, prosecutors allege
A convicted felon who just started serving probation on a weapons charge was hunting for rivals in a South Side park when he fired 19 shots at Chicago police officers over the weekend, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.
None of the officers was injured, and 22-yearold Kamari Pleasant — one of three alleged gunmen — was apprehended minutes later Saturday hiding under a car and in a pile of leaves.
A 17-year- old boy was also arrested that day after he was found lying near a basement stairwell next to a .40- caliber Smith and Wesson, prosecutors said.
Despite shots “that sounded like fully automatic gunfire,” the three officers did not fire at the shooters, prosecutors told Judge John F. Lyke Jr.
“What’s most amazing, and shows tremendous training and professionalism in my humble opinion, no officer fired a single shot,” Lyke said before ordering Pleasant held without bail on attempted murder charges. The teen also has been charged as a juvenile. Twenty-five shell cases recovered in Fernwood Park were linked to guns found near Pleasant and the teenager, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Six 9mm casings found in the park are believed to be from the third, uncharged shooter who got away, Murphy said.
Someone had called police to report that three people with guns were exiting a car to enter the park “to do a shooting,” Murphy said.
When three tactical officers responded in the 10400 block of South Union after 10 p.m., they saw Pleasant and the two others exiting the park toward the car, Murphy said. They allegedly ran back into the park after seeing the officers, and as the officers pursued, Pleasant and the others fired at them, Murphy said.
The officers, with the help of a citizen, drove around the park and located the car they initially tried to stop, arresting the driver. Other officers searching the neighborhood found Pleasant, of Dolton, in a driveway east of the park, Murphy said. A .40- caliber Glock was recovered nearby, Murphy said. Pleasant was 19 days into a two-year probation he was sentenced to after pleading guilty to a gun charge Nov. 2.