Gunfire erupted at a gas station after Chicago police officers pulled over a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee, and one officer returned fire as he was falling out of the backseat of the SUV.
December 06, 2021 – By Deanese Williams-Harris – Source Chicago Tribune
Two men engaged in a ‘shocking’ shootout with police that sparked a high-speed chase and left a Chicago police officer and one of the suspects shot on the Far South Side, prosecutors and a judge said Saturday afternoon.
Adonis Covington, who was shot by police, remained hospitalized, but Michael Taylor appeared before Cook County Judge Maryam Ahmad, who denied bail for both during a hearing that was broadcast live on YouTube.
Covington, 21, of the 8100 block of South Hermitage Avenue, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of armed habitual criminal and one count of receiving/possessing a stolen vehicle, according to Chicago police.
Taylor, 26, of the 7900 block of South Kimbark Avenue, also was charged with attempted first-degree murder, unlawful use of a concealed weapon and possessing a stolen vehicle, police said.
The charges stem from a Wednesday shooting during a traffic stop in the 9200 block of South Stony Island Avenue in the Calumet Heights neighborhood where an exchange of gunfire broke out, police said.
In court, Assistant State’s Attorney Lorin Jenkins said the situation began when two on-duty Chicago police spotted the same stolen black Jeep Grand Cherokee that fled when they tried to pull it over two days before.
The officers, who were not wearing uniforms but had official vests with the words “police” on them, tried again to pull it over but it sped away at a “high rate of speed,” Jenkins said.
They tracked it to a Citgo gas station at 9155 S. Stony Island Ave. and began approaching the station on foot as Covington went inside the station, Jenkins said. Taylor remained in the Jeep’s driver’s seat.
Covington got back in the SUV and it began rolling forward a slow speed, but one of the officers was able to open the rear driver’s side passenger door and hop into the SUV announcing: “Chicago police,” Jenkins said.
Body-worn camera footage captured Covington draw a gun with a large magazine and point it at the officer in the SUV, who said Covington then fired once at him as he tried to get out. The officer returned fire as he was “falling out” of the Jeep, Jenkins said.
His partner fired at the Jeep and took cover as it pulled out of the station, jumped a curb and crashed while the other officer ran after it and ordered the suspects to put up their hands, Jenkins said.
At that point, Taylor got out of the driver’s seat and raised his gun toward both officers, Jenkins said. Pod cameras captured “visible muzzle flashes’’ near the driver’s side of the Jeep, where spent shell casings were later found.
As both officers returned fire, one was shot in his left calf while Covington was shot in his knee and Taylor was grazed in his right shin, Jenkins said. The officer has since been released from the hospital.
The suspects then fled to the Skyway Motel, 9132 S. Stony Island Ave., across the street, where Covington was filmed “hobbling along” the side of the building with an apparent knee injury and making a “throwing motion” as he ran toward an alley, where later, nearby police found a gun, Jenkins said.
Taylor ran through the parking lot and to the back of the motel, where several witnesses appeared to see him. He then placed something inside a Dumpster, where police eventually found two guns, one with a laser attached, Jenkins said.
Meanwhile, Covington then ran to a nearby house in the 9100 block of South Harper as three residents were getting home in their car. Covington told them he’d been shot and he needed help. He barged into the front door, then into a back bedroom, while telling one of the residents to throw out of his hoodie not to call 9-1-1, Jenkins said.
He got into a bedroom, which happened to be equipped a security camera that recorded him telling someone that he’d been shot by police, and 911 was called, Jenkins said.
Covington was arrested in the home while Taylor was found underneath a car nearby. Both were taken to hospital, where Covington remains.
Taylor is 26, lives with his mom, his nephew and two little sisters, said his attorney Brian Shields. He attended Eastern Illinois University for two years, graduated from Chicago Vocational High School with honors and has worked at the Chicago Park District as well as a janitor, said Shields.
“This was not a premeditated incident,” said Shields, who added there was no evidence he fired a gun.
Before denying bail Judge Maryam Ahmad said Taylor “basically engaged in a shootout with the police in the city of Chicago in a highly populated area.”
The allegations in this case are “quite shocking” because it appeared they were “were shooting at individuals who were wearing clearly marked police uniforms,” Ahmad said. “The court knows how big those letters are on the vest.”
The third suspect, a South Side man named Blake Williams who was out on bond for an alleged carjacking, was charged in the same shootout.
Covington and Taylor are due back in court Monday.
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