CHICAGO — More than seven years after two Chicago police officers were shot while working in Back of the Yards, a second man was charged with the crime Saturday.
Edgar Barron, 25, was 17 years old when he allegedly shot plainclothes officers Leo Augle and Colin Ryan on May 2, 2017. On Saturday afternoon, Judge Deidre Dyer ordered Barron held pending trial on two counts of attempted murder. Court records show he has never been charged with any other crime in Cook County.
“Great news!” Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) tweeted Sunday. “I’m glad the judge arrested him so he can’t flee back to Mexico.”
Augle and Ryan were patrolling the 1500 block of West 43rd Street after an earlier shooting when someone fired shots from another vehicle at their undercover van around 9:10 p.m. The officers, who were following a car they suspected of carrying gang members seeking retaliation for the previous shooting, were shot by someone riding next to them in a minivan, prosecutors said.
Shortly after the shooting, officials said a single gunman used a semi-automatic .223 rifle to fire at the officers, hitting Augle in the back and Ryan in the arm and hip. More than 25 bullet holes were found in the officers’ vehicle.
The officers returned fire at the shooter, but no other injuries were reported. Investigators later recovered the gunman’s minivan and rifle in Bridgeport.
The driver of the minivan, Angel Gomez, was arrested about a week after the shooting and ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated discharge of a firearm in November 2021. He received a five-year prison sentence, which was satisfied by time served had spent time in jail awaiting trial, according to court records.
Gomez allegedly told investigators he believed his passenger was shooting at rival gang members, not police officers.
During an initial trial for Gomez, prosecutors said gang members identified Gomez and the shooter when they learned they had shot police officers.
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