Lawndale man charged with shooting and injuring officer

A Lawndale man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at several Chicago police officers — and striking one — while suffering an apparent mental health crisis.

Anthony Marks made comments in which he called himself “God” and accused his wife of trying to kill him in 911 calls that preceded officers’ arrival to a home in the 1300 block of South Lawndale Avenue early Wednesday morning, Cook County prosecutors said.

Those remarks, including other incoherent and expletive-laden statements to officers, led prosecutors and Judge Susana Ortiz to conclude in court Thursday that Marks, 30, was apparently suffering a mental health crisis at the time of the incident.

Officers found Marks in a third-floor window at the front of the home yelling down at them before he returned with a 9-mm Ruger handgun and screamed, “two bodies gotta drop,” prosecutors said.

He then allegedly started firing his weapon multiple times in the air and then turned the gun on the officers as they sought cover.

One officer who responded to the domestic disturbance call used a parked ambulance to shield himself. But he was left exposed and subsequently shot when the ambulance pulled away, prosecutors said.

The bullet first struck a cellphone in the officer’s pocket and then entered his right leg, shattering his femur, prosecutors said.

After firing 17 rounds, Marks threw the gun from the window into the street, where it was later recovered, prosecutors said.

Marks was taken into custody immediately after.

The officer was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and was “doing well,” Deputy Chief Brendan Deenihan said Wednesday.

Marks was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a police officer.

He also faces a charge of armed habitual criminal due to his previous convictions for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a controlled substance, prosecutors said.

Marks was not present at his bond hearing Thursday, so Ortiz declined to rule on a request by prosecutors to deny him bail. Instead the judge ordered Marks held on $1 million bail and said the prosecutors’ request would be reevaluated when Marks is present in court.

The shooting comes less than a week after a detainee concealing a gun during transport to a Northwest Side police station opened fire, wounding three officers. Lovelle Jordan, 25, faces six counts of attempted murder in that shooting.