A CTA janitor died after being stabbed during an argument at a CTA train station on the Near West Side Thursday afternoon, police said.
Julian Mobley, 41, was at the Damen Green Line CTA station in the 2000 block of West Lake Street around 3 p.m. when another man approached and began an argument, according to Chicago police and ATU Local 308, the union that represents CTA workers including Mobley.
The men began physically fighting and the suspect stabbed Mobley in the neck with a sharp object. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The suspect fled the scene heading west, police said. No one is in custody and detectives are investigating. Green Line trains were bypassing the Damen station as of around 6 p.m.
Mobley has been a member of Local 308 since 2018, according to union president Pennie McCoach. He was a father of two, a 14-year-old and an 18-month-old, and had been married to his wife for 20 years, she said.
Mobley was mild-mannered and kind, and his eyes lit up when he talked about his children, according to rail janitor and union board member Audrey Veasley.
“His character is, he was a gentleman,” Veasley said during a news conference hours after the incident. “He was a real man.”
McCoach said Mobley’s death is another example of why more safety measures are needed for CTA workers and called for immediate action — such as a review of safety protocols, increased security and better training — from the transit authority. Mobley is the second CTA employee to be killed while on the job in the last several months. In June, CTA switchman Kevin Barlow was shot and killed while on duty.
“Let me be clear: This is not a tragedy, this is a safety failure,” McCoach said. “Our members show up every single day to serve the people of Chicago. They keep this city moving. They deserve to return home safely. That is a basic right, not a privilege.”
Crime on the CTA had reportedly dropped for six consecutive months earlier this year following beefed-up security due to a high number of violent crimes. But McCoach questioned the numbers released by the transit authority.
“I don’t truly believe in what they’re giving us because every day my phone rings some type of way that one of our members has been assaulted or harmed, and these types of incidents occur,” she said. “The numbers, I don’t think they’re valid. I think they’re fictitious and they’re not real.”
The CTA didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.