‘This is the definition of violence right here,’ judge tells teen held on $500K bond in concealed carry shootout
A 16-year-old boy who was originally cast as one of two shooting victims was arrested, charged as an adult and Thursday was ordered held on $500,000 bond in connection with a shootout with a man who had a concealed handgun.
Details of the Tuesday night shooting in the 1700 block of North Mango Avenue came out during the teen’s bond court hearing before Judge David Navarro, who set bond at $500,000 on the aggravated battery with a gun charge, a Class X felony.
Police initially said two people were shot outside a North Austin home around 10:30 p.m. — the 16-year-old and another man, 42. Police did not say they had shot one another or that one was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said the older man had been speaking with his uncle in a front yard belonging to a witness when a Chevrolet Malibu pulled up and a man inside the car had the window down, looking at him.
The car then drove around the block before pulling up again and a man inside said, “What’s up” to the 42-year-old, and a group of five to six men then got out of the car and punched the 42-year-old, who saw the teenager was holding a gun, according to prosecutors.
The teenager shot the 42-year-old once in the thigh, and the man pulled out his own concealed handgun and fired at the teenager, shooting him in the shoulder. The group then got into the car and drove away, according to prosecutors.
After the police received a description and partial license plate for the Malibu, they found the vehicle; the teen was arrested on suspicion of shooting the older man and taken to West Suburban Hospital and then Stroger Hospital for treatment, prosecutors said.
“Fortunately no one died as a result of these shots being fired back and forth,” said Navarro, who presided over the case. “But it’s just that that can’t be a definition of success, that we say, ‘no one died.’ This is still a demonstration of threats of safety to the community; this is the definition of violence right here.”
The case also bore an uncanny resemblance to another shooting during the weekend, in which a different 16-year-old went up to a different man in his 40s who had a concealed handgun, also said “what’s up” and was shot by the man with the gun.
The teenager is a North Austin resident who attended high school through 11th grade and has no record of violent crime, with one past theft charge.
He will need to pay $50,000 to be released pending trial.
Twitter: @jadeluciayan
