Wisconsin man held on $1.5M bail in shooting of Amtrak conductor
A 79-year-old retired federal law enforcement officer from West Allis, Wisconsin, is being held on $1.5 million bail after being charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery in the Tuesday afternoon shooting of an Amtrak conductor.
Assistant State's Attorney Claudia Fantauzzo said Edward Klein fired one round from a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver striking 45-year-old Michael Case, of Homewood, in the abdomen and causing severe damage to his liver and pancreas. Case is currently on a ventilator at Edward Hospital in Naperville.
Fantauzzo said prosecutors are prepared to upgrade the charges if Case does not survive.
Fantauzzo said Klein, who had served in Federal Protective Services, a branch of Homeland Security, was unhappy with his living situation at a Wisconsin assisted-living facility and had made plans to take a train to visit a friend in Las Vegas. But at some point Monday, Klein got the attention of a conductor and told him he no longer wanted to go to Vegas.
Fantauzzo said Klein became upset when he was told he couldn't exit the train until Kansas City, where he could get a return ticket to Milwaukee.
Klein did just that, but not before causing a disturbance over a delay in Kansas City. At some point, Amtrak staff members realized Klein may have been in need of assistance and contacted other officials to meet Klein at Union Station and assist him in getting back to Milwaukee and ultimately to his living facility.
Fantauzzo said the train made a scheduled stop in Naperville after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when Klein became argumentative and attempted to get off the train.
The conductor, aware there was a plan in place to escort Klein at Union Station, closed the train doors to keep the "enraged and belligerent" Klein on the train.
At that point, Fantauzzo said, Klein reached out an open window and fired the single shot at Case before he was detained by fellow passengers.
Fantauzzo said Klein told police he threw the gun out the window but it was later found in his pocket. She said Klein told police "I built up all this anger and I just blew him away."
A search of his apartment turned up numerous printed stories about police-involved shootings. Klein's concealed carry privileges had been revoked by Wisconsin officials, Fantauzzo said.
Klein, appearing on a video screen from the DuPage County jail, interrupted Judge Joseph Bugos several times during his hearing before being told to stop talking by his appointed public defender.
"We can just stop all of this. I'm determined to leave this place within the next day," Klein said. "I'm going to be leaving."
Klein's next court date is June 12 in courtroom 4014.