CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago police are still sorting through all the evidence and are trying to determine what caused a 32-year-old man to go on a shooting rampage Saturday afternoon in Chicago and Evanston, leaving three people dead and four others injured.
The shooting spree lasted less than four hours before Evanston police shot and killed 32-year-old Jason Nightengale.
A relative of his told the Sun-Times that Nightengale was “he was fighting some demons. He had some problems.” He had also reportedly posted dozens of videos on Facebook ranting about Satan, waved a gun, and talked about killing random people.
In one recording, Jason Nightengale, 32, of Chicago also said, “I’m going to blow up the whole community.”
Though his relative Annette Nightengale said Jason Nightengale “had some problems,” she also told the Sun-Times he “was a wonderful father. He tried to be as best as he possibly could with what he had.”
“He was a very determined young man, trying hard to do whatever he could do for his children. It’s a great loss for his family,” she said, declining to give more information.
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Police said that is exactly what he did. On Saturday, his shooting spree stretched from the South Side of Chicago to north suburban Evanston. It began when Nightengale killed a man at about 1:50 p.m. in Hyde Park.
The 30-year-old man was sitting in his vehicle at a parking garage in the 5300 block of South East End Avenue when Nightengale shot him, police said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified as a student at the University of Chicago.
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Then, Nightengale went to nearby apartment building at about 2 p.m. in the 4900 block of South East End Avenue and fired shots at two women, killing one and critically wounding another, police said.
From there, Nightengale went to a building at about 2:45 p.m. in the 5000 block of South East End Avenue and stole a Red Toyota from a person that he knew, police said.
Nightengale drove to the 9300 block of South Halsted where at about 3:45 p.m. he walked into a store and announced a robbery, police said. He then fired shots, striking a 20-year-old man in the head and an 81-year-old woman multiple times.
The man was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The woman was taken to the same hospital in critical condition.
Later, at about 5 p.m., Nightengale fired shots in the 10300 block of South Halsted, striking a 15-year-old girl who was riding in a vehicle in the head, police said. The teen was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
Minutes later, Nightengale drives to the 9200 block of South Halsted Street and fires shots at officers investigating a crime scene, striking a squad car, police said. No officers were hurt.
The attacks ended when police responded at 5:38 p.m. to a CVS store at 101 Asbury Ave. in Evanston after a report of shots fired inside. Officers chased Nightengale when he ran out of the drugstore and into the IHOP across the street, Evanston police said.
Nightengale took a woman hostage and shot her in the neck area before fleeing the restaurant, police said. He ran to a nearby parking lot where he was shot and killed by officers.
“While we are still learning more about the offender, his motive and the totality of yesterday’s tragic events, one thing is clear: If not for the brave actions of Evanston and Chicago police, many more innocent lives would have been lost,” said Evanston Mayor Stephen Hagerty, adding the offender’s weapon was recovered at the scene.
The woman who was shot was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition, police said.
"But for the brave conduct of Evanston police officers confronting this suspect, many more people would have been injured," added Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.
A motive behind the spree remains unknown.