Ride-share driver accused of firing shots inside crowded South Loop movie theater
A dispute over a ride-share driver being stiffed on a fare led to a scuffle with the rider that ended with a volley of gunfire Saturday night inside a South Loop movie theater, prosecutors told a Cook County judge on Sunday.
No one was injured when at least seven shots were fired inside the popular ShowPlace ICON Theatre at 1011 S. Delano Court around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, according to authorities.
Babacar Mbengue, 35, of the city’s Oakland neighborhood on the South Side, faces charges of reckless discharge of a firearm at the theater. A 16-year-old was charged as a juvenile with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by someone under 21, according to police and court records.
As many as 700 people were inside the theater at the time of the shooting, prosecutors told Judge Maryam Ahmad during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.
The incident began with Mbengue dropping off the teenager and two female companions at the theater after the teen promised to pay him cash for an additional ride to the theater, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt told the court.
When they arrived, the teen hopped out of the vehicle without paying, followed by his companions. Mbengue followed the group into the theater and grappled with the teen, Dale-Schmidt said. During the scuffle, a loaded 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine fell from the teen’s pocket and the pair struggled to get the weapon, she added.
Mbengue then picked up the weapon and fired several rounds into the floor at the theater as chaos erupted, Dale-Schmidt said. Two security officers witnessed the struggle and detained Mbengue and the teen.
Video surveillance inside the theater captured Mbengue chase after the teen and the tussle but not the shooting, Dale-Schmidt said.
Mbengue’s court-appointed attorney said his client was a married man expecting his first child with no criminal background, adding that his client had been the “victim of a crime” leading to the shooting.
But the judge lambasted Mbengue’s response to what she called a minor incident, saying it offered a grave threat to the public. “The risk to the public is so substantial in this case, to fire a gun. It’s illegal to say fire in a theater, let alone to shoot up a theater!” Ahmad said in a hushed courtroom.
“The court must weigh this for purposes of public safety — the lack of judgment here is so concerning to the court,” the judge said in ordering Mbengue held on $35,000 bail. Ahmad did call for a future hearing to determine whether Mbengue’s bail could be lowered.
Court information for the teen, whose name was withheld because of his age, wasn’t immediately available. Mbengue is scheduled to return to court next week.
