Chinese PhD student Yiran Fan among three killed in Chicago shooting rampage
- Suspected assailant Jason Nightengale, who died in a shoot-out with police, apparently chose his victims at random
- Fan, 30, was sitting in his car in a parking garage when he was shot in the head
Three people, including a PhD student from China, were killed in a series of shootings in and around Chicago on Saturday that left four others wounded.
Suspected assailant Jason Nightengale, who was himself killed in a shoot-out with police, apparently chose his victims at random. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the attacks.
University of Chicago student Yiran Fan, 30, Anthony Faukner, 20, and security guard Aisha Nevell, 46, died during the incident. Wounded were a 77-year-old woman, 81-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl, according to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.
Another woman was shot in the neck in Evanston, police in the suburb said.
Nightengale, 32, had posted nonsensical and expletive-laced videos in the days and hours leading up to the attacks.
Authorities did not release many details about the Chicago man whose LinkedIn page listed work over the years as a janitor, security guard and forklift operator. But a series of disturbing videos posted to Facebook over two years under Nightengale’s middle name, Oliver, offered clues as to his state of mind.
In one posted Thursday, Nightengale held a gun to the camera and muttered unintelligible statements as he appeared to be driving. A police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the investigation confirmed it was Nightengale in the video.
“No music. No. No music,” Nightengale says in the video, his speech slurred. “I don’t need no seat belt. I’m coming, girl.”
He posted dozens of other short videos, including several in the hours before the first attack, which were viewable until the page was taken down Sunday. In one, he says, “I’m going to blow up the whole community.” In another, Nightengale appears to groove to the Bee Gee’s Staying Alive while laughing.
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The shootings began shortly before 2pm on Saturday with the killing of Fan, who was shot in the head while sitting in his car in a parking garage in the Hyde Park neighbourhood, Brown said.
After that, Nightengale “just randomly” walked into an apartment building a block away, where he shot the female security guard and the 77-year-old woman, who was getting her mail, Brown said. The guard was pronounced dead at a hospital and the other woman was hospitalised in critical condition.
From there, Nightengale went to another nearby building and stole a car from a man he knew. He then opened fire at a convenience store, killing the 20-year-old man and wounding the 81-year-old woman in the head and neck. The woman was in critical condition.
After leaving the store, Nightengale shot a 15-year-old girl who was riding in a car with her mother, leaving the girl in critical condition, police said. He then went back to the convenience store and fired on officers who were investigating the earlier shooting. None of them were injured, Brown said.
Nightengale then drove about 10 miles (16km) north to Evanston, which borders Chicago, where police responded to a report of shots that had been fired inside a CVS.
Nightengale had apparently walked into the pharmacy, announced that he was robbing it and fired off shots that didn’t hit anyone, authorities said. He then went across the street to an IHOP restaurant, where he shot a woman in the neck. She was in critical condition, Evanston police Chief Demitrous Cook told reporters.
Nightengale left the restaurant and was confronted by officers in a car park, leading to a shoot-out in which he was shot and killed, Cook said.
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University of Chicago officials said Fan was working toward a doctorate in a joint programme between the university’s schools of business and economics, and that his family in China had been notified of his death.
“We know that this shocking incident brings grief to our entire community and concern for the well-being and safety of others,” the university said in a news release.
“In the days ahead we will come together as a community to mourn, and to lift up fellow members of our community in this difficult and very sad time. Please join us in wishing consolation and healing for our student’s loved ones.”
An article on the UChicago News website said the university community remembered Fan as “an exceptional student, talented scholar and beloved friend”.
