Authorities have charged a Chicago firefighter with attempted murder and other felonies after he allegedly shot and seriously injured a man in the Andersonville neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, police said.
Omotayo Kassim, 34, faces single counts of attempted murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm, according to Chicago police.
Fire department spokesperson Larry Langford confirmed that Kassim, a resident of the Grand Boulevard neighborhood on the South Side, had been with the department since 2019.
According to an initial police statement, the shooting victim attempted a U-turn in a Jeep around 8 p.m. Sunday in the 1600 block of West Foster Avenue, when Kassim allegedly got out of his car and shot him in the face. The man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition, police said.
Kassim is set to appear for a detention hearing Wednesday.