Reward offered for details in killing of railroad security guard

SHARE Reward offered for details in killing of railroad security guard
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Rashad Williams | Harvey police photo

Harvey Mayor Eric J. Kellogg is offering a reward for information about the man wanted for killing a Canadian National Railroad security guard Saturday in the south suburb.

Police obtained an arrest warrant Wednesday for 24-year-old Rashad Williams of East Hazel Crest for the murder of 38-year-old Tyrone Hardin, according to Harvey city spokesman Sean Howard. He was not in custody as of Friday afternoon.

Harvey Mayor Eric J. Kellog announced Friday that he was offering a reward of an undisclosed amount to anyone who comes forward with information leading to the Williams’ arrest.

“I’m asking the general public, Rashad Williams’ family and his friends to step up and offer any information that could lead to his capture,” Kellogg said in a statement. “The Hardin family cannot properly heal until Rashad Williams is brought to justice. The City of Harvey will continue to stand by this grieving family.”

About 4 p.m. Saturday, a woman called police to report a man stealing her car, Howard said. The woman was able to get in another car and followed the man while speaking with police. After hearing police sirens and realizing he was being followed, Williams crashed the stolen car near 159th Street and Park.

Williams then ran towards the viaduct on the nearby railroad where he saw the Canadian National Railroad security guard working at an intermodal facility in a vehicle, said Howard and CN spokesman Patrick Waldron.

The guard, later identified as Hardin, was found shot in the abdomen and was taken to South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, where he was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., according to Howard and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Williams stole Hardin’s vehicle, but then abandoned it in the 100 block of 171st Street in East Hazel Crest, according to Howard.

Hardin, a Merrillville, Indiana, resident, was working a second job as a security guard to earn enough money to provide a nice Christmas for his family.

“He assured me it wasn’t dangerous,” his wife, Gwinette Oliver, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He said the worst thing is ‘I might get chewed up by one of the coyotes that come up there’.”

Hardin had a 5-year-old son with the 40-year-old Oliver, and was stepfather to her four other children. He also had a son from a previous marriage.

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