A 24-year-old man facing weapons violations charges in the fatal shooting of a 61-year-old doorman near the UIC/Halsted Blue Line station is a CTA employee, according to Chicago police.
Luther Hopkins, 24, of Calumet City, and the doorman, John Flemister, had been in an altercation over a fare, according to a police report. Hopkins is charged with unlawful use of a weapon.
Hopkins, who police said is a CTA worker, was taken into custody at the scene of Saturday’s shooting and was scheduled to appear in bond court Tuesday. He has a firearm owners ID card but does not have a concealed carry license, according to police.
The Chicago Transit Authority didn’t respond to several requests for comment.
Flemister was fatally shot just after 6 p.m. Saturday after an altercation with Hopkins over Flemister being allowed to “pass through without payment,” according to the police report.
A second CTA employee tried to intervene and “deescalate” the argument, which spilled onto the pedestrian bridge.
A witness told police that Flemister was the “first one to reach toward his waistband” where a gun was, while the shooter “simultaneously” reached into his black bookbag, pulled a gun and began shooting. He hit Flemister at least seven times, the report said.
An autopsy determined Flemister died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 6:37 p.m.
Flemister was doorman at several West Loop buildings. He had both a valid FOID card and concealed carry license, according to the police report. Police found a second gun in a bag nearby, which belonged to him, the police report said.
Family and neighbors gathered at a vigil near the UIC/Halsted stop Monday to remember Flemister, whom they described as a “gentle, kind soul” who helped raise his sister’s and niece’s kids.
“He was the best person ever,” Flemister’s niece Sabrina Holton told the Sun-Times Monday. “I hope that we can find a funeral place that’s big enough for the love that he’s going to receive, because everyone loves him.”