Amid the sudden crackle of gunfire, a 12-year-old girl ran from a Marquette Park bungalow and fled along South Mozart Street. A gunman — a relative — took a shot at her and missed. Soon, she burst through the door of a nearby gas station, dressed only in pajamas, begging an attendant to call her mom.
When Keshia Larry answered the phone early Wednesday morning, she heard her daughter speak these panicked words: “He killed everyone.”
Police would later enter the bungalow and find a scene one commander described as “incomprehensible.” Four people — an adult and three children, all related — were dead. The adult and the oldest child were pregnant. Two other family members were hospitalized, one on life support.
Police had soon apprehended a suspect, a Wisconsin man with a lengthy criminal record who was related to all those killed. Sources involved with the investigation said the man had converted to Islam several years ago while serving time in prison and had a dispute with his wife — one of the victims — because she would not adhere to his faith.
He told police that he needed to take his family back to Allah and out of this world of sinners, a source said. A police report quoted him as saying, “I wish I had more bullets. I wish I had more bullets.”
As of late Wednesday, no charges had been filed.
Family members said the suspect had been acting strangely. The wife’s sister, Shirina Thompson, said the suspect had been talking about “going to Allah.” Both Thompson and a neighbor in Wisconsin said the man had fought with his wife in recent days because she refused to wear Muslim garb.
The children killed were Jihad, the 7-month-old son of the gunman; his 3-year-old niece, Keleasha Larry; and his 16-year-old niece, Keyshai Fields, who friends said was four months pregnant. The nieces, both daughters of Keshia Larry, were found shot to death in the same bed.
The suspect’s wife was 19-year-old Twanda Thompson. Family members said the couple were married just weeks ago and that Thompson was expecting their second child. She and Jihad were found in bed in a separate bedroom with gunshot wounds in their heads, police said.
The two wounded were identified by family members as the gunman’s mother, Leona Larry, 57, and nephew, Demond Larry, 13. Family members said Leona Larry was on life support and Demond Larry was stable but had been shot in the face.