Four teenagers died after fleeing police and driving over a bridge into a train car this weekend in Bedford Park, according to officials.
The crash, captured in a jarring video that shows a pickup truck careening off the bridge, happened around 2:17 a.m. Sunday, according to the Chicago Police Department and police radio traffic.
It killed Vanessa Morales, 14, of Palatine; Yaritza Martinez Villeda, 17, of Crystal Lake; Yuarem Garcia-Pena, 18, of Woodstock; and Cristofer Lopez Montan, 19, of Woodstock, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The radio traffic shows that someone inside the pickup had previously pointed a rifle at Chicago police officers in Morgan Park around 12:45 a.m.
Around that time, a Chicago cop announced over the radio that officers were pursuing the pickup from 115th Street and Bishop Avenue and onto the expressway. Moments later, a supervisor ordered them to stop chasing, according to the radio traffic.
In a statement, the police department said officers were responding to a reported gun-pointing incident when they first attempted to stop the car. The statement makes no mention of someone pointing a rifle at officers.
Illinois State Police troopers tried to stop the same pickup truck in the 5500 block of South Cicero Avenue, according to a statement from Chicago police. The pickup briefly stopped for the state troopers before the driver sped off again. The troopers then radioed Chicago police for assistance.
But radio traffic from that morning offers a slightly different version of events.
Around 2:10 a.m., a dispatcher announced that state police had spotted a red Chevy pickup truck wanted for illegal gun possession near 43rd Street and Cicero Avenue. Around that time, Chicago police officers and state troopers already appeared to be traveling together when the state police tried to stop the pickup near Midway Airport at 55th Street.
“They just took off driving southbound on Cicero, seen driving in the opposite lane,” an officer told the dispatcher. “Just for info, he does have a rifle in his car, so officers stay safe.”
A Chicago police officer appeared to follow, alerting dispatchers as the pickup continued to head south on Cicero Avenue.
Around 2:17 a.m., another call pierced through the airwaves.
“He just went over the bridge, went over the bridge!” the office said.