A 31-year-old man who was killed in a shooting that wounded four others at a Chicago restaurant had been targeted by gunmen who jumped out of a vehicle and opened fire, police said.
Diners were having lunch under a tent Sunday afternoon at Lumes Pancake House on Chicago’s far South Side, when a white Audi pulled into the parking lot and three gunmen got out, walked into the tent and fired at least 40 shots, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The suspects then jumped back into the car and sped away, police said, after shooting three women and two men who were seated at a table in the tent. Police had initially said a total of six people were shot, but later updated that to five.
Chicago police officers work at the scene where multiple people were shot, one fatally, at Lumes Pancake House Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, on Chicago’s far South Side. (Erin HooleyChicago Tribune via AP)
Chicago police said man who was killed was shot multiple times and was apparently “targeted” by the gunmen. They gave no motive and reported no arrests. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Devon Welsh of Back of the Yards, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown planned to discuss the weekend violence, including the Sunday shooting of two police officers, at a Monday morning news conference.
Witnesses said the shooting created a frantic scene under the tent at the restaurant, which is a popular Sunday destination for families after attending church services.
Martin Punte, who works as a cook at the restaurant, said he heard gunfire from an “assault rifle type” weapon, and later saw tables and chairs flipped over and one man dead inside the tent.
“It was very scary; a lot of people were running inside to the coolers in the restaurant,” Punte told WGN-TV.
Police said the four other people wounded at the restaurant were a 44-year-old woman who was shot in the stomach and buttocks, a 32-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man who were shot in the thigh. All three were stabilized at Advocate Christ Medical Center, police said Sunday.
A 30-year-old woman who was shot in the foot was taken to Little Company of Mary Medical Center in good condition, police said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department does not believe there is currently any basis to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the killing of a woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, a top department official said Tuesday.
The decision to keep the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division out of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good marks a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.
While an FBI probe is ongoing, lawyers in the Civil Rights Division were informed last week that they would not play a role in the investigation at this time, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal department deliberations.
And on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that “there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation.” The statement, first reported by CNN, did not elaborate on how the department had reached a conclusion that no investigation was warranted.
Federal officials have said that the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in “an act of domestic terrorism” when she pulled forward toward him.
The quick pronouncement by administration officials before any meaningful investigation could be completed has raised concerns about the federal government’s determination to conduct a thorough review of the chain of events precipitating the shooting. Minnesota officials have also raised alarm after federal officials blocked state investigators from accessing evidence and declared that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
Also this week, roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington gave notice of their departures amid turmoil over the federal probe, according to people familiar with the matter.
Among the departures in Minnesota is First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who had been leading the sprawling investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes in the state, two other people said. At least four other prosecutors in the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office joined Thompson in resigning amid a period of tension in the office, the people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
They are the latest in an exodus of career Justice Department attorneys who have resigned or been forced out over concerns over political pressure or shifting priorities under the Trump administration. Hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have been fired or have left voluntarily over the last year.
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers criticized the departures, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling the resignations “a loss for our state and for public safety” and warning that prosecutions should not be driven by politics. Gov. Tim Walz said the departures raised concerns about political pressure on career Justice Department officials.
The resignations of the lawyers in the Civil Rights Division's criminal section, including its chief, were announced to staff on Monday, days after lawyers were told the section would not be involved in the probe. The Justice Department on Tuesday said those prosecutors had requested to participate in an early retirement program “well before the events in Minnesota,” and added that “any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
Founded nearly 70 years ago, the Civil Rights Division has a long history of investigating shootings by law enforcement even though prosecutors typically need to clear a high bar to mount a criminal prosecution.
In prior administrations, the division has moved quickly to open and publicly announce such investigations, not only to reflect federal jurisdiction over potential civil rights violations but also in hopes of soothing community angst that sometimes accompanies shootings involving law enforcement.
“The level of grief, tension and anxiety on the ground in Minnesota is not surprising,” said Kristen Clarke, who led the Civil Rights Division under the Biden administration. “And historically the federal government has played an important role by being a neutral and impartial agency committing its resources to conducting a full and fair investigation, and the public loses out when that doesn’t happen,” she said.
In Minneapolis, for instance, the Justice Department during the first Trump administration opened a civil rights investigation into the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of city police officers that resulted in criminal charges. The Minneapolis Police Department was separately scrutinized by the Biden administration for potential systemic civil rights violations through what’s known as a “pattern or practice” investigation, a type of police reform inquiry that is out of favor in the current Trump administration Justice Department.
Protesters demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
