With Expressway Shootings A Crisis In Chicago Area, Suburban Man Says He Was Narrowly Missed On I-290 In August
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Expressway shootings are becoming so common around Chicago that there are now more than 10 a month on average.
One of those bullets narrowly missed a northwest suburban man. He spoke exclusively to CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov about what saved his life.
"Just a madman, you know, tried to ram the back of my car several times," the man said.
That is how he said his expressway ordeal, began last August – with little warning as he and his new fiancée were driving west on Interstate 290 near Thorndale Avenue in Itasca.
"I was just completely caught off guard," the man said.
But his car's cameras caught the shooting – capturing the driver of a Nissan Altima flashing his lights and then pulling up beside the victim. The suburban man, who wanted his identity hidden, said he rolled down his window to ask if there was a problem.
"He's not saying anything. He's just looking at me, and from there, he lifted up a gun. He already had his finger on the trigger," the man said. "As he's rotating it, I'm able to slam on my brakes – and he fired."
Gunsmoke appears in the security video. The bullet lodged in the door, just below the driver's side mirror.
"It's scary," the man said. "I mean if I didn't have the camera footages and have his license plates, I'm thinking that people can get away with this."
And indeed the shooters do get away with it.
A spokesperson for the Illinois State Police said since the beginning of 2020, there have been more than 220 shootings on Chicago area expressways. But there have been only 3 arrests. One of them in this victim's case
After a nine-month investigation, 26-year-old Micaro Masri was charged with the aggravated discharge of a firearm – a felon – last month. He was out on bond as of Tuesday night.
"I want more eyes to be on him," the man who was fired upon said. "I want more eyes on all the shooters."
That is the goal of a multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded expressway camera system that was supposed to be up and running more than a year ago.
We have reported extensively on the delays – even asking Gov. JB Pritzker about it last week.
"I am frustrated," Pritzker said in the interview this past Thursday.
But neither he nor Illinois State Police can give us a date when all 600 cameras will be operational.
"I think that this definitely needs to be the main focus right now, because there obviously is a problem – and it's not being fixed," said the man who was fired upon.
