Judge orders CTA bus driver who accidentally shot himself to be released on bond
A 36-year-old CTA driver who accidentally shot himself Sunday while standing near the doors of a bus was released on bond in a Monday court hearing.
He was one of two men who faced felony charges after shooting themselves in separate incidents this weekend.
The CTA driver, Keelan Gillard, shot himself in the leg around 11 a.m. Sunday in the 4300 block of South Wentworth Avenue in Fuller Park. He was charged with one felony count of recklessly discharging a firearm and three misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault, carrying a concealed firearm on public transportation and failing to disclose a concealed firearm to officials when requested, police said in a news release Monday.
A police spokesperson said Gillard has both a firearm owner’s identification card and a license to carry a concealed weapon. But he was accused of carrying a concealed weapon on a CTA bus, where weapons are prohibited.
Gillard, of the 9600 block of South Calumet Avenue in the Rosemoor neighborhood, was in bond court Monday for the felony charge.
During a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube, Assistant State’s Attorney Darryl Auguste said Gillard was working around 11 a.m. Sunday when a female passenger boarded the bus at East 43rd Street and South Evans Avenue in the Bronzeville neighborhood without a face mask.
After three stops, Gillard asked the passenger to put on a mask, leading to a verbal argument during which the passenger said she could not wear a mask due to health conditions, Auguste said. Gillard then reached into a bag on the right side of his seat and performed a “cocking motion” inside the bag, he added. The woman fled the bus through an emergency door, after which Gillard placed the firearm in his pocket.
The police conducted an investigative stop of the bus after the woman said he pointed a handgun at her. Gillard denied having a gun when questioned by police and was taken into custody after he accidentally shot himself in the leg while standing by the doors of the bus, Auguste said.
He was taken by paramedics to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was listed in stable condition. The woman was not injured.
Assistant Public Defender Iveliz Orellano pointed out that although the woman said Gillard had pulled a gun on her, a witness on the scene did not corroborate that story.
Auguste confirmed the CTA video surveillance shows Gillard did not point a gun at the woman.
Judge John Lyke Jr., noting that the gun was not actually pulled on the woman, released Gillard on a $10,000 bond with a special condition prohibiting contact with the woman.
“I think he did more damage to himself than anything so holding him in jail is counterproductive,” Lyke said.
Gillard is next expected in court on Aug. 5.
In an unrelated incident Sunday, a 35-year-old man shot himself in the leg around 7:35 p.m. in the 1800 block of South Millard Avenue in Little Village. The man was reported to be in the process of handing the firearm to someone he knew when it accidentally went off, police said.
He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.
