A Chicago Park District lifeguard is dealing with homicide and tried homicide prices after allegedly capturing two teenagers final Thursday night time, killing one and critically injuring the opposite in Douglass Park.
In response to ABC7 Chicago, surveillance footage shared with the station exhibits the kids strolling close to Charles Leto, who was sitting along with his bike.
The video then exhibits Leto getting up and pointing a gun at one of many teenagers. Prosecutors say 15-year-old Marjay Dotson was killed, and 14-year-old Jeremy Herred stays hospitalized with severe accidents.
Leto, a Marine veteran and hid carry license holder, is accused of purposely focusing on the boys. His protection legal professional claims he acted in self-defense after the kids threatened him and mentioned they had been going to steal his bike. Prosecutors counter that he violated Park District coverage by bringing a firearm onto the grounds.
Additional investigation by CBS Information Chicago revealed that this isn’t Leto’s first capturing incident. In 2023, a neighbor reported that Leto shot her two canines in Lakeview, killing one and severely injuring the opposite.
Chicago
Police detained a 55-year-old pool lifeguard or supervisor after he fatally shot a 15-year-old male and wounded a 14-year-old. The person claimed the kids attacked him whereas he was engaged on his bicycle, per a police report.https://t.co/ybmmFjzaAn
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The neighbor, Jackie Michaels, advised CBS she noticed Leto come out of his storage and shoot each animals. Her surviving canine, Skokie, has undergone a number of surgical procedures to reconstruct his paws and nonetheless struggles to stroll.
“He pointed the gun proper at me that day,” Michaels advised CBS Information Chicago. Leto was not charged within the canine capturing after claiming he felt threatened.
Months later, he was employed as a lifeguard by the Park District.
Michaels expressed outrage upon studying of the teenager capturing.
“A loopy particular person – don’t you suppose there’s one thing improper with someone who retains capturing folks and canines?” she advised the station.
As a result of lack of prices within the 2023 incident, the capturing didn’t seem on Leto’s background examine when he was employed by town.
The Cook dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace has not but commented on the earlier canine capturing case. Leto is at the moment being held with out bond.
Do you imagine this Chicago lifeguard’s shootings had been justified acts of self-defense, or do they present a harmful sample of conduct?
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