Conductor identified in Naperville Amtrak shooting
Naperville police say they are pursuing criminal charges against a Wisconsin man suspected of shooting an Amtrak conductor at the city's 5th Avenue train station.
Cmdr. Lou Cammiso said Wednesday that the department is "following up leads" and working with the DuPage County state's attorney's office to bring charges against a man identified only as a white man in his 70s.
The victim has been identified by a friend as Michael Case, 45, of Homewood, who remained hospitalized Wednesday, ABC 7 reported.
Case was in surgery Wednesday morning after being shot in the torso, Cammiso said. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the company is not releasing his condition.
The shooting occurred about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday when the suspect, who was aboard the train, pulled out a handgun and began firing at the conductor, who was outside on the platform, police said.
The shooting came after the suspect and the conductor had a disagreement. Passengers restrained the gunman until police arrived, which Cammiso said likely prevented additional injuries or deaths.
The preliminary investigation delayed travel for about three hours for the 239 passengers aboard the Amtrak train, which was headed from Los Angeles to Chicago, Magliari said. Another Amtrak train was delayed 20 minutes, and Metra delays ranged from 10 to 60 minutes.
While police say there is no longer any danger to the public, they also say there isn't anything new they can do to prevent instances such as Tuesday's shooting from occurring. No additional security at Naperville's 5th Avenue train station is planned, Cammiso said.
"It was pretty random," Cammiso said about the shooting. "That train was coming from Los Angeles to Chicago. This same incident could have happened anywhere in the country."
Magliari said it would be premature to speculate whether Amtrak will change its security procedures. The company already prohibits firearms in carry-on baggage, along with a list of other potentially dangerous items including archery or martial-arts equipment, corrosive chemicals, hoverboards, flammable liquids or gases and sharp objects such as scissors, nail clippers, corkscrews and razors.
Trains were operating normally Wednesday for Amtrak, which has eight stops in Naperville each day, and for Metra, which sends its busy Burlington Northern Santa Fe route through the station more than 50 times a day.