A man accused of wounding two Chicago police officers in an ambush in Back of the Yards, then eluding law enforcement for more than seven years, was ordered held at a hearing Saturday, police said.
Edgar Barron — who was 17 at the time of the shooting — was arrested Thursday, at which time he gave police a fake name and date of birth, according to court documents. The now 25-year-old faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Detectives initially questioned three people of interest, but just one was arrested and charged — Angel Gomez, 18 at the time, believed to be the driver of the van, police said. He was charged with two counts each of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, and four counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The ambush occurred on May 2, 2017. Tactical officers Leo Augle and Colin Ryan had been tailing a car suspected in an earlier shooting when a stolen minivan pulled up behind them around 9 p.m. at 43rd Street and Ashland Avenue.
As the officers turned at the intersection, someone opened fire from the minivan with an assault rifle; more than two dozen .223 caliber shell casings were found at the scene of the shooting, prosecutors said. Augle was struck in his back. Ryan was shot in his hip and arm. Both survived.
The officers fired through their windshield and hit the tires of their assailants’ vehicle, found abandoned a short distance away.
Police initially thought it might have been an intentional assault on the officers, but later concluded the gunman mistakenly believed the officers’ van held rival gang members.
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Cellphone data tied Barron to the location of the shooting, and his fingerprints were found on the weapon used in the shooting, which was recovered shortly afterward in a lot close to nearby railroad tracks, according to prosecutors. Police camera footage also captured Barron and Gomez stopping at a gas station before the shooting, where people there who knew them identified them.
Prosecutors allege Barron attempted to flee to Mexico, though his lawyer contended that he was a resident of Houston at the time and wasn’t attempting to evade arrest when he left the country, and has lived in Chicago the last few years.
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Augle and Ryan in 2018 received the Police Medal — the department’s highest honor — and the Superintendent’s Award of Valor. Each also received a Police Blue Star Award, which goes to officers wounded in the line of duty.
Barron’s next court date is Oct. 23.
