A man suspected of opening fire in a Chicago home Wednesday allegedly killed his wife, infant son and two other young relatives and later told police he heard voices telling him to kill family members, a person close to the investigation told The Associated Press.
The man also told police Allah told him to kill his family and that he was sorry he'd run out of bullets, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation. Two others were wounded in the shooting.
Chicago Police said the shootings at the brick home on a tree-lined street happened about 4:30 a.m. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the victims as: 7-month-old Jahad Larry, 3-year-old Kelesha Larry, 16-year-old Keyshai Fields and 19-year-old Tawana Thompson Larry.
The shootings may have resulted from a domestic situation, said police spokeswoman Amina Greer, who would not confirm relationships between the suspected gunman and victims.
The person close the investigation, however, said the suspected gunman was Tawana Thompson Larry's husband and Jahad's father. Kelesha and Keyshai were believed to be his nieces, the person said.
‘He’s not a bad person’
An adult woman, Leona Larry, was in critical condition at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn and a 13-year-old boy was in fair condition, according to the hospital.
The person close to the investigation did not have further details about the suspected gunman's statements to police, but the man's sister told reporters at a vigil outside the home that her brother had recently been reading passages from an Islamic text that led him to believe he should kill someone.
"My heart is crushed ... He's not a bad person. I don't know why he would do this," said Letisha Larry, 30, before breaking into tears and walking away.
The person who spoke on condition of anonymity said police believe the gunman also had chased a 12-year-old girl out of the house and fired his weapon at her, but missed, then fled the scene. The person said the girl notified police about what had happened at her house.
Officers spotted the alleged gunman several miles away about 90 minutes later. They also found a handgun but had not determined Wednesday if it was the weapon used in the slayings.
Court documents in Madison, Wis., indicate a man and a woman with the same names as the suspected gunman and his wife were granted joint custody of a 7-month-old boy in a paternity case.
Although there are discrepancies in the spelling of the woman's first name and the first name of the boy — Wisconsin documents list her first name as Twanda and the boy as Jihad — the ages of both are the same as those killed in Chicago.
Criminal history
The man and woman married in March, according to the April 6 paternity judgment granting joint custody. The judgment said the man was unemployed, but was working through a temporary staffing agency in Madison for $10 an hour.
The man named in those court documents has a criminal history involving drugs and theft, beginning when he was in his late teens. In 2000, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison for felony cocaine possession.
Most recently, prosecutors in September 2009 charged him with disorderly conduct and battery after he allegedly attacked Thompson, 18 at the time, in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Madison.
According to a criminal complaint, Thompson told police her husband was angry with her, although the complaint does not say why. As she unloaded the baby stroller he allegedly grabbed her face and squeezed her cheeks, pulled her back inside the van and put her in a chokehold, the complaint said.
He then got out of the van and started swearing at bystanders, shouting something like "What would you do if your woman was acting like this?" He eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery.