4 sleeping passengers fatally shot on train, mayor of Chicago suburb says; suspect arrested; gun recovered
Four sleeping passengers aboard a Chicago Transit Authority train were fatally shot Monday morning, according to the mayor of Forest Park, a Chicago suburb.
CTA workers discovered the shooting victims around 5:30 a.m., WLS-TV reported, adding that Forest Park police said they received a 911 call about the shooting. Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and a fourth died at Loyola University Medical Center, the station said.
'It's a Monday morning on a holiday. Everyone is supposed to enjoying their time off, time with their families; it's Labor Day. ...'
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins told WLS the victims, all adults, were sleeping at the time they were shot.
"These victims likely never saw it coming," Hoskins added to the station. "They were executed on Labor Day. In our community, people go to the pool. They go to the park. You know, they barbecue. But today a lot of people were calling the mayor's office, expressing concern and asking if they were safe."
Police told WLS the shooter fled the scene, but officers took a suspect into custody within 90 minutes and recovered the gun allegedly used in the shooting.
"We believe he got off at the Forest Park stop, and he was apprehended at a Pink Line station in Chicago somewhere, so he may have gotten on a train going the opposite direction," Hoskins added to the station.
Police told WLS the shooting occurred on two train cars.
"I mean, it's a horrible situation," Forest Park Police Deputy Chief Christopher Chin added to the station. "It is definitely something you don't want to wake up to. It's a Monday morning on a holiday. Everyone is supposed to enjoying their time off, time with their families; it's Labor Day."
Forest Park police and the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the shooting, WLS said, adding that police said it appears to be an isolated incident, and there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Neither the shooting suspect nor the shooting victims have been identified, the station said.
- YouTube youtu.be
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Youngest female mayor in US history — a Trump-supporting college student in Georgia — chats about governing small town
The youngest female ever to assume a mayoral office in the United States is quickly learning to balance her private and political life in a tiny town in southern Georgia.
Last November, Brooke Huckaby was elected to serve as mayor of Arabi, Georgia, a small town with fewer than 450 residents about 150 miles south of Atlanta. She then took office in January and quickly learned firsthand that a mayor has more than a ceremonial role.
'Be cautious and hear out both sides.'
"I feel like I'm living three different lives sometimes because I'm bouncing from an interview like this and then I'm going to class, and then I'm going to work so balancing all that has, I would not say it's been a struggle, but it has been challenge, but one that I feel like I'm up to," she said recently.
As part of her municipal responsibilities, Huckaby has tackled important local concerns ranging from road construction to internet access, the Daily Mail reported. When stuck, she can always turn to her father, Craig Huckaby, who served as the mayor of Arabi for 12 years before his daughter took over in January.
Craig Huckaby is certainly proud of Brooke's accomplishments. He described her as "smart" and capable. "She'll do well," he claimed. He also gave her sound advice: "Be cautious and hear out both sides."
Brooke Huckaby does seem wise beyond her 21 years. In fact, she claimed that she became involved in local politics to help inspire other young people to become better engaged.
"It's just really concerning to me how people my age aren't involved in our economy or politics or any real thing going on in the world, and I just wanted to be the one to be able to make that change and take that step forward where other people aren't," Brooke said on "Fox and Friends" over the weekend.
"The older generation is not always going to be around to handle things for us," she added in a separate interview.
When she isn't busy running Arabi, she studies agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. She also works part-time at the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Her Facebook account includes posts promoting local businesses and pets available for adoption.
As might be expected, Huckaby, an elected Republican, also has strong political opinions. The Daily Mail shared several photos of Huckaby donning gear in support of former President Donald Trump's re-election efforts in 2020, and her recent X posts indicate that support has not wavered.
"If you do not take the time to get out and go vote, then your opinion of the debate tonight is irrelevant! #Trump2024MAGA," Huckaby wrote fewer than two weeks ago.
Blaze News reached out to the City of Arabi for comment.
Brooke Huckaby may be the youngest woman ever to become a U.S. mayor, but she is not the youngest person to have done so. Both Ben Simons of Yoncalla, Oregon, and Michael Sessions of Hillsdale, Michigan, were just 18 years old when they took office. Simons is believed to be the youngest mayor in U.S. history by about nine months.
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Pete Buttigieg, Worst Transportation Secretary Ever, Hints He Won’t Run For Office Again
Mayor Pete’s ideal for presidential work ethic is the geezer who has napped his way through office? Exhausting.US mayors praise Chinese government after visit to Wuhan for climate change and sustainability exchange
Six mayors from the United States participated in an exchange with the Chinese government in which they traveled to take part in the U.S. Heartland China Association's Yangtze-Mississippi Municipality Energy Transition Exchange project.
The mayors who made the trip were Mayor Jim Brainard of Carmel, Indiana; Mayor Barbara Buffaloe of Columbia, Missouri; Mayor Lee Harris of Shelby County, Tennessee; Mayor Chokwe Lumumba from Jackson, Mississippi; Mayor Kim Norton of Rochester, Minnesota; and Mayor Robyn Tannehill of Oxford, Mississippi.
The exchange was officially part of an effort to promote best practices between communities along the two major rivers, particularly in regards to "energy transition, climate mitigation, and green economy."
The two sides discussed opportunities for possible collaboration and took a trip to Voyah Automobile, a Chinese-state owned luxury car manufacturer now specializing in electric vehicles. The cars are reportedly sold in Russia, Israel, Turkey, and Belarus, as well as China.
As reported by Natalie Winters, several of the mayors praised China's approach to green energy policies. Specifically, electric vehicle investments and alleged carbon-reducing infrastructure were Chinese policies that some of the mayors hoped to implement in the United States.
"We were talking about climate change," said Columbia, Missouri, Mayor Buffaloe. "I know that in order for us to solve climate change, or at least reduce the impacts it's having on our communities and make sure we have a planet for our future generations, that it's going to take us working on things like electrical vehicle transformation, renewable energy both production, as well as scale and supply."
Buffaloe went on to state that the "best practices" she learned in China should be implemented in American communities.
"It's about our communities learning from one another, sharing these best practices, and then implementing them in our own communities. We need all kinds of exchanges with China."
— (@)
Shelby County, Tennessee, Mayor Harris praised Chinese investments surrounding carbon emissions.
"China is quickly making the right kinds of investments, and those are investments in infrastructure, that's investments in reducing carbon emissions, that's investments in new tech like electric vehicles, and we've got a lot of work to do."
Mayor Brainard of Carmel, Indiana, said that the work conducted alongside Chinese politicians should be implement worldwide.
"Collaboration between U.S. and Chinese mayors not only benefits the hundreds of millions of people living in our two countries, but the ongoing joint work will lead to best practices that can be applied around the world."
Brainard also signed a sister cities agreement between Carmel, Indiana, and Xiangyang, Hubei, China.
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'Electeds of Color': Boston mayor's office mistakenly sends invitations for non-white holiday party to entire city council
The office of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu mistakenly sent holiday party invitations — meant only for city council "Electeds of Color" — to the entire city council, prompting a white city council member to call the move "divisive."
What are the details?
Denise DosSatnos — director of city council relations in the mayor's administration — sent an email to the council’s “honorable members” that read, “On behalf of Mayor Michelle Wu, I cordially invite you and a guest to the Electeds of Color Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Parkman House, 33 Beacon Street,” WFXT-TV reported.
— (@)
About 15 minutes later, DosSatnos sent a follow-up email to council members apologizing for the previous message, the station said: “I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding the Holiday Party for tomorrow. I did send that to everyone by accident, I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.”
Councilor Frank Baker, who is white, called the decision to exclude some members “unfortunate and divisive" but said he wasn't offended, Boston Patch reported.
Here's a look at the 13-member council:
Wu on Wednesday afternoon told WFXT that the group has been in existence for many years and compared the holiday party to Boston’s various multi-faith holiday celebrations.
“I mean, again, this is a group that has been in place for many, many years. We celebrate all [kinds] of connection and identity and culture and heritage in the city. Just yesterday we hosted in the city our official Hannukah celebration, we have had tree lightings," Wu said, according to the station. “We want to be a city where everyone’s identity is embraced … and there are spaces and communities we can help support.”
How have folks been reacting?
Commenters under the Libs of TikTok post on X about the faux pas were incredulous.
"I guess segregation is good again," conservative social media figure Ian Miles Cheong wrote. "Nice."
Here's a sampling of similar reactions:
- "If paid by the city, I'm pretty sure that's illegal," another commenter said.
- "This is really outrageous — it’s discriminatory and morally offensive," another user noted. "Isn’t this illegal? Imagine if a politician did a whites-only Holiday Party. Democrat politicians like Wu are the people responsible for race tensions in America."
- "The white ones should show up since they received an invitation," another commenter declared. "Make them ban them because of the color of their skin."
- "Sheesh, I'm old enough to remember when segregation was a bad thing," another user noted.
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