Smollett did not talk with Chicago cops
CHICAGO — Jussie Smollett didn’t meet with Chicago police Monday, even after police announced they hoped to talk to the “Empire” actor again about the attack he reported in the Streeterville neighborhood.
“There are no plans for Jussie Smollett to meet with Chicago police today,” Smollett spokeswoman Anne Kavanagh said in an emailed statement Monday. “Any news reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate. Smollett’s attorneys will keep an active dialogue going with Chicago police on his behalf.”
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi reiterated the detectives’ desire to talk to Mr. Smollett. Mr. Guglielmi said he hopes there’s a “mutually beneficial time” that can be worked out to make that happen.
As of Monday afternoon, the scene outside the Area Central police station at 51st Street and Wentworth Avenue was quiet and Mr. Smollett had not appeared.
The investigation has shifted to whether two brothers were paid to stage an attack on the Mr. Smollett at about 2 a.m. Jan. 29, according to a law enforcement source.
Employees return
CHICAGO — Employees of Henry Pratt Co. on Monday returned to their Aurora workplace for what company officials said was “an opportunity to come together and support each other” in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting there.
Five of their co-workers were killed by another employee who later died in a shootout with police. The gunman, Gary Martin, also shot and wounded five police officers and injured a sixth employee, police said.
The Pratt facility will remain closed for production this week, but the company will keep doors open to employees who wish to come by to spend time with colleagues, according to a news release from Mueller Water Products, which operates the factory. The factory is tentatively scheduled to resume work Feb. 25.
The company will make counseling available onsite all week. Mueller also will cover funeral costs and medical expenses, establish a family support center and set up an employee support fund.
Martin, 45, opened fire when he was called into a termination meeting, Aurora police said.
5 bystanders wounded
NEW ORLEANS — A shootout between police and a suspected armed robber Sunday left five “innocent bystanders” seriously wounded as they stood at a bus stop at Canal Street and Elk Place.
City police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said investigators don’t know yet whether the bystanders were shot by bullets fired by two NOPD officers — or by the suspect they were chasing. A Louisiana State Police officer who joined the chase ultimately shot and killed the suspect.
Four of the victims were in the hospital in stable condition and the fifth was in critical condition.
Mayor Latoya Cantrell called the shooting — and a fatal shooting earlier in the day on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Central City — part of a “tumultuous weekend.” She sought to reassure thousands of tourists who are on their way to the city to celebrate biggest days of Carnival leading up to Fat Tuesday.