Boy charged in Red Line platform shooting ordered to remain in custody

A 14-year-old boy accused of shooting two men on a Red Line platform last week in the Uptown neighborhood during the evening rush was ordered by a judge on Monday to remain in custody.

Although the boy was ordered to be released at a hearing Friday because police held him beyond the legal limit for minors, his mother never picked him up.

On Monday, the boy’s mother told Cook County Juvenile Division Judge Linda Pauel that she was hesitant to take custody of him because of concerns about a retaliatory attack against her son.

“I am not a police officer to guide or protect him,” she said. “If I came to pick him up, they might see me with him and attack me, how would I handle that?”

“I find there is a change in circumstances,” Pauel said. “The minor’s face has been all over the news. The minor is no longer anonymous.”

“The minor’s safety is at risk and the safety of his family is at risk and I don’t want to put all these people in harm’s way,” Pauel said before ordering the boy to remain in custody.

The Sun-Times has not identified the boy because he is charged as a juvenile.

Prosecutors on Monday explained why they filed a petition seeking to keep the boy in custody.

“The Chicago Police Department views retaliation as likely in this matter,” Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Anderson said. He also argued there was a high likelihood the boy was a flight risk, and that he’d violated probation from a previous case criminal case.

The boy allegedly shot two people May 6 on the platform of the Argyle stop on the Red Line.

He and another male allegedly entered the Argyle station about 4 p.m. and unleashed gunfire on two men, police said.

A 34-year-old was critically wounded by multiple gunshots, police said. He was struck in the back, abdomen, groin and buttocks. The other man, 41, was grazed by a bullet and declined medical attention. No bystanders were hit.

The boy was charged Thursday with two felony counts of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.

The next hearing in the boy’s case is scheduled for May 29.

Another person was questioned by police last week in connection to the shooting but was not charged.