Chicago man charged in fatal shooting of 4 sleeping on train near Forest Park: police

A Chicago man has been charged with murder in the deaths of four people who were shot on Labor Day while riding a train in the Illinois suburb of Forest Park, police said.

Rhanni S. Davis, 30, faces four counts of first-degree murder after what officials described as the execution-style killings of the four passengers as they slept, police announced at a news conference Tuesday. The shooting took place before 5:30 a.m. Monday aboard a Chicago-area L train in Forest Park, a suburb about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago.

Forest Park police took Davis into custody Monday on another Chicago Transit Authority line before formally charging and identifying him as the suspect Tuesday.

4 passengers fatally shot on Labor Day on 2 train cars

Chicago Transit Authority employees were the first to come across the bodies of three gunshot victims early Monday while cleaning train cars on a Blue Line train, according to a police report provided to USA TODAY.

The Blue Line train, which operates 24 hours a day, runs from Forest Park through downtown Chicago to Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Forest Park police who responded a 911 call found the three passengers, all of whom appeared to have been shot from close range in the head, the police report says. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

A fourth victim found in a separate train car with a gunshot wound to the stomach was rushed to a hospital and later died, police said Monday in a news release .

The preliminary investigation revealed that the train was on the move when the victims were shot. All four appeared to have been sleeping and probably didn't even see the gunman before they were killed, Forest Park Deputy Police Chief Christopher Chin told USA TODAY.

"It's believed to be random," Chin said.

Three of the victims were identified as Margaret Miller, 64, Simeon Bihesi, 28, and Adrian Collins, 60, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed to USA TODAY. A fourth victim, a male, had not been publicly identified because his family had not yet been notified.

Rhanni Davis due in court Wednesday

After the shooting, the suspect tried to flee but was identified on video surveillance and arrested by 7 a.m. on another L line, police said.

Police also reported recovering a Glock handgun on the suspect, identified Tuesday as Davis, matching shell casings found at the scene. Davis' suspected motive was not immediately clear, but Chin said Monday that it was an “isolated incident.”

Davis was due in court Wednesday, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office confirmed to USA TODAY.

In a statement provided Wednesday to USA TODAY, Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval R. Carter called the shootings "the definition of a heinous crime and tragedy."

"We extend our condolences to those who lost their loved ones as a result of this senseless act of crime," Carter said, adding that CTA is assisting law enforcement in the investigation. "The safety and security of our riders and employees is and remains our number one priority."

In a news briefing Monday, Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins said the slayings left the community shaken. Police, Hoskins said, are used to calls to the area because of the busy transit line, but he noted that fatal shootings rarely occur there.

“It’s a horrible tragedy that four people are dead on Labor Day weekend,” Hoskins said Monday.

Hoskins did not immediately respond Wednesday to USA TODAY's request for comment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago man charged in fatal shooting of 4 sleeping on train near Forest Park: police