UPDATE: Tense moments reported during shootout at Jefferson Park bus terminal, as first of three suspects now charged

by BRIAN NADIG

A Jefferson Park resident was charged last week with attempted murder in connection with an Aug. 15 incident at the Jefferson Park CTA Terminal in which he and two others allegedly shot toward a private CTA security guard, who returned fire, according to Chicago police.

Police reported finding 23 shell casings after the early morning incident in the 4900 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, and one bullet reportedly struck the glass door of a nearby business. No one was hit by the gunfire, police said.

The suspect, who was identified by police as Gabriel Serrano, age 36, of the 5600 block of West Goodman Street, was initially taken into custody shortly after the incident, police said.

The security guard reportedly identified the suspect as one of the shooters, according to police. He had been arrested two weeks earlier for an alleged annual gun offender registration violation police said.

However, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office reportedly would not approve charges at the time, and he was released from custody, according to police. A top CTA official recently said that the agency had expressed disappointment in that decision.

Following a two-month investigation Serrano was re-arrested on Tuesday, Oct, 20, at or near his Goodman home and was charged with attempting to kill the guard, according to police. There also had been an issuance of a warrant, police said.

On the day of the gunfire, police released images of another man and a woman who they said also were involved, and their identities are known to police, but they have not been charged at this time, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

The K-9 Security guard, who is a conceal carry license holder, was in uniform at the time of the incident and had a holster with a gun in it, according to a detention proffer presented at Serrano’s hearing on Oct. 22. Serrano was ordered to be held in jail, the state’s attorney’s office said.

While at the Blue Line CTA station the guard was being verbally threatened by three individuals, who appeared to be intoxicated, and the woman at one point reportedly, said “I’m going to kill you right now” and then made the motion of pulling a gun part way out of a bag, according to the proffer.

Upon seeing her with the gun, the guard removed his gun from his holster and held it by his side, the proffer stated.

After the woman reportedly continued to make the same motion, the guard briefly walked toward the group and pointed his gun at the woman before backing up and putting his gun back into his holster, the proffer stated.

The guard then walked away from the group and toward his car, which was parked near the south end of the bus terminal, but the others followed, and the guard told them they were drunk and to leave him alone, the proffer stated. He then reportedly started running toward his car.

The guard heard approximately six to 10 gunshots in his direction as he was running and heard more gunshots as he got behind his car, according to the proffer. The guard briefly returned fire, and three individuals eventually fled toward the bus terminal, and surveillance video showed muzzle flashes from on front of one of the men as he was running away, according to the proffer.

Surveillance footage also showed the woman firing her weapon before her male companions did, according to the proffer.

In addition, security footage showed the woman crossing a street with a firearm in her right hand, and one of the men following behind her, the proffer stated.

A witness collaborated what was seen in the surveillance footage, and the witness reported hearing the group making racial slurs and threats about the guard, according to the proffer.

Later in the day police recovered two guns which reportedly had been under a parked vehicle in a lot in the 5500 block of West Higgins Avenue, according to the proffer. Shell casings found at the scene of the gunfire appeared to match the two guns, according to the proffer.

CTA surveillance footage showed that the two men and the woman had entered the Blue Line train at the Damen Avenue stop and exited at Jefferson Park, and while on the train they appeared to be passing around a fifth of alcohol, the proffer stated.

Serrano has been arrested several times on gun-related charges and is a convicted felon, according to police and the state’s attorney’s office.

Also, police have said that there have been issues stemming from a “problem building” on the block where the suspect lives on Goodman.

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