The man accused of shooting and killing four people as they slept aboard a CTA Blue Line train in Forest Park on Labor Day will make his first court appearance Wednesday.
Rhianni S. Davis, 30, of Chicago, is scheduled to appear in court at 11 a.m., where the Cook County District Attorney’s Office will release a court filing detailing the findings of the investigation. Davis has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the attack, authorities said at a news conference Tuesday.
According to Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx, no motive has yet been established in the case.
“It’s horrible,” Foxx said. “We want answers. The question of why may never be answered, because sometimes the truly horrible things don’t have answers.”
More details are expected to be revealed at Wednesday’s hearing. Here’s what we know so far.
What happened on the blue line of the forest park?
According to authorities, around 5:30 a.m. Monday, police received a 911 call about several people being shot on a train at the Forest Park CTA Blue Line station.
When police arrived, they cleared the station and found four people had been shot and wounded on the train. Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. A fourth victim was taken to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead a short time later.
Cook County medical examiner records later showed that three of the victims were men and one was a woman.
What the surveillance video showed
Authorities said surveillance video revealed the four victims were likely sleeping in different parts of the westbound train when the attack occurred.
No fight or prior confrontation was seen in surveillance footage, police said, and authorities were working to locate eyewitnesses.
Although a motive has not been established, police say the shootings appear to have been random in nature.
Who were the victims?
The victims were identified Tuesday by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as:
- Adrian Collins, 60, who was shot in the head
- Simeon Bihesi, 28, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds
- Margaret A. Miller, 64, who was shot in the head
Another victim, a man, was not identified Tuesday. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.
What we know about the suspect
The suspect fled after the shooting, with police using surveillance footage to identify the individual. The suspect was later found aboard a CTA Pink Line train and taken into custody. A gun was also recovered, but it is unclear if it was the same weapon used in the attacks.
NBC 5 Investigates has learned that the suspected shooter faced various charges in Cook County dating back to 2012 under different names, including Rhianni Davis and James McDavis.
His previous charges include a 2014 assault and battery charge, to which he pleaded guilty under the name James McDavis.
Court documents show he was fined and sentenced to two years of judicial supervision.
In 2019, under the name Rhianni Davis, he was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and possession of an open container, both charges that were later dropped. He was also charged with disorderly conduct in 2020 and was convicted after being discovered at Bloomingdales while the store was being looted.
In 2021, court records show he faced an additional weapons charge, which was later dropped.
Statements by CTA and Forest Park officials
In a statement released Monday, the CTA called the incident a “heinous and egregious act of violence.”
“While this was an isolated incident, this heinous and egregious act of violence should never have happened, let alone on a public transit train,” the statement read. The full text of the statement is available below.
“As soon as this matter was reported, CTA immediately deployed resources to assist Forest Park Police in their investigation of this matter, including reviewing all possible security camera footage, which was critical in assisting local law enforcement. We commend both the Forest Park Police Department for their thorough and collaborative efforts in providing information to partner agencies, as well as the Chicago Police Department whose swift actions led to the arrest of a suspect in this matter. CTA will continue to work with local law enforcement as part of this ongoing investigation.”
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins called on city and state leaders to provide more resources and safety on the train.
“Over the last two years, our response numbers have grown exponentially, so we are counting on county and state leaders to invest more resources to support a small community like Forest Park and make this area safer,” Hoskins said at a news conference.
State Representative La Shawn K. Ford also released a statement.
“As the representatives of Forest Park, we extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this horrific tragedy on the CTA Blue Line in Forest Park,” the statement read. “This senseless act of violence has shaken our community, and we stand firmly behind Mayor Rory Hoskins in his call for extraordinary safety measures and resources to prevent such incidents from happening again.”
At a news conference Monday, Deputy Park Chief Chris Chin called the shooting a “horrific situation.”
“It’s something you don’t want to see come to light,” Chin said. “Everyone is supposed to be enjoying their time off. It’s horrible to have to be there to deal with a situation like this.”
Editor’s Note: According to a Forest Park Police news release, the suspect’s first name is spelled Rhanni. Cook Court documents list the suspect’s name as Rhianni.
