Gurnee murder suspect, 32, dead in 'terrifying' police shootout on Metra

Illinois State Police are investigating a shootout between police and a murder suspect on a Metra train in Deerfield late Friday night, which left the man dead. State police Saturday evening identified the man as Jamal Parks, 32, of Gurnee. An autopsy is set for Monday.

It was the first time in 18 years there's been a fatal shooting on a Metra train, a Metra spokeswoman said.

Agents with the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force tracked Parks, a suspect in a murder Thursday night in south suburban Evergreen Park, as he boarded a Milwaukee District North Line Metra train Friday night as it headed from Chicago to Fox Lake, police said.

Police from the task force, along with Deerfield police, boarded the train when it stopped around 10:30 p.m. at the Lake-Cook Road station. Parks saw the police and moved to the upstairs level of the train, according to police.

Officers were positioned outside on the train platform and inside the train car. As they approached Parks to take him into custody, he took out a handgun and shot at several of the officers, said Tim McCarthy, the Orland Park police chief and chairman of the task force. One of the officers returned fire and the suspect was struck. Parks was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.

There were a few other passengers in that car, but they were evacuated as the shootout began. No passengers or officers were injured, officials said. The suspect's weapon was recovered at the scene.

Passenger Julie Cox, of Grayslake, was headed home from a night out in the city with her girlfriends when the train stopped for 10 minutes and she noticed lots of police cars with flashing lights outside. She figured the train must have hit a car or person. She was one of only two people in her train car. The conductor, who had been talking on his radio, then said to them, "Get out. Leave this car. Run!"

Cox ran to a train car behind her, where there were a few other passengers. Not knowing what was going on, she crouched beneath the seat and prayed. She heard 6 to 8 gunshots.

"It was pretty loud. I've never heard a gunshot in my life. I'm thinking it was pretty close by," she said. "Some time passed and I didn't hear anything. Then the conductor said 'Get off the train.' The doors opened up and we were right at the station. I just ran."

While many passengers ran toward the Home Depot, Cox ran to a nearby Mexican restaurant that was getting ready to close for the night. She called her husband who came to pick her up, and the restaurant staff waited with her. The situation rattled her, and she said it's going to be a while until she rides the train again.

"One minute you're sitting on the train, relaxing, texting ... and then all of this goes on," she said. "It was really shocking. Really terrifying."

Passenger Brian Johnson, of Grayslake, was heading home after doing a stand-up comedy performance at the Livewire Lounge in Chicago, when the train stopped and he saw police officers walk through his car. There were only a few other passengers in the car. When the conductor told them all to move to another car, they did. Minutes later, Johnson said he heard the gunshots. He believes the shootout took place in the car next to him.

"People on the train stayed pretty calm, given the circumstances," he said. "We just did what the conductor told us."

After exiting the train, Johnson went to the Home Depot where he spent five hours being interviewed by police and waiting for a ride home from a PACE bus, which took him to his Metra stop. Johnson said he didn't get home until 5:30 a.m.

Parks is suspected in the Thursday night shooting of David Murrell, 34, of Chicago inside an SUV in a Walgreens parking lot on the 8700 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Evergreen Park, police said. Witnesses told police three people ran from the scene, according to news reports

The train had 40-50 passengers at the time of the shooting, Metra spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile said. After the train was evacuated, some passengers received rides home while others waited at a nearby Home Depot. Metra had PACE dispatch a bus to take about 15 passengers who needed transport to their cars at other stations.

"Our first concern was our passengers," Thomas-Reile said. "Since it's so cold, we're grateful Home Depot was able to help us out and open their doors."

Shootings on the railroad are extremely rare, Thomas-Reile said. The last fatal shooting was when a conductor was killed by two men on Metra's Electric Line in 1999. The Metra board members were briefed on the shooting Saturday and will consider whether more action is needed to ensure passenger safety, she said.

• Daily Herald staff writers Marni Pyke, Steve Zalusky and Katlyn Smith contributed to this report.