Doorwoman at The Barclay, U. of C. student, among three killed in shooting spree

A University of Chicago student and a doorwoman at The Barclay condominiums were among three people killed as part of a spree shooting that began in Kenwood and ended in Evanston on Saturday. 

Four others were wounded, including Shirley Hinton, a 77-year-old resident of The Barclay, 4940 S. East End Ave. Chicago police said Hinton was in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center. 

Police have identified the gunman as Jason Nightengale, 32, of Chicago, who died in a firefight with the Evanston Police. 

The University of Chicago said on Sunday that Yiran Fan, a 30-year-old doctoral student at the school, was among those killed.

"We know that this shocking incident brings grief to our entire community and concern for the wellbeing and safety of others," wrote U. of C. President Robert J. Zimmer. "Our priorities at this time are to uphold the safety of our community, and to ensure that support is available for our colleagues and students who knew Yiran or will be otherwise affected." 

Fan, who came to the United States from China, was in the fourth year of a joint program in financial economics within the Booth School of Business and the Department of Economics, according to Zimmer. He said that Fan's family in China had been notified. 

The other victim of the shootings in Kenwood was Aisha Nevels, who worked as a doorwoman at The Barclay, according to Richard Holtzman, president of the building’s property manager Prairie Shores, in an email to residents on Sunday. 

"The board of directors are discussing a tribute to the victims of this heinous act and the establishment of a memorial fund," he wrote, adding that the company would review the building's security procedures. 

Holtzman, reached for comment, called the shooting and Nevels' death a tragedy. Nevels, who was also known as Aisha Johnson, had worked at The Barclay for many years.

"She was a first-rate, upstanding person. The short conversations we had, you could tell that she was a solid, intelligent, well-spoken and had something to say," said Jack Mitchell, a resident of the building, Sunday afternoon. "She was the ideal person for what she was doing."

In a series of videos and social media posts leading up to Saturday’s shooting, first reported on by the blog CWB Chicago, Nightengale warned that he might commit violence. “I’m going to blow up the community,” he says in one. 

At 1:50 p.m. on Saturday, Nightengale entered the Regents Park apartments complex parking garage, 5035 S. East End Ave., and shot Fan, who was sitting in his vehicle. 

At 2 p.m., the offender proceeded to The Barclay condominiums, 4940 S. East End Ave., entered and reportedly asked Nevels to use the building's phone before shooting her in the chest and Shirley Hinton, a 77-year-old woman retrieving her mail, in the head. Nevels was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The shootings mark the first homicides in the Hyde Park-Kenwood area since 2018. 

At approximately 2:45 p.m., the offender entered a building on the 5000 block of South East End Avenue — police investigators were later seen at 5000 S. East End Ave. itself — where he pulled a gun on a male victim he knew, pushed the victim into his apartment and demanded the keys to his vehicle, a red Toyota. The suspect then proceeded to a nearby parking garage, stole the vehicle and fled the scene.

The property management company for the building at 5000 S. East End Ave. told residents in a letter on Sunday that Nightengale had previously lived in the building. He gained entry to the building through the loading dock door.

Residents at the building recognized Nightengale and identified him to police yesterday afternoon, according to the company’s letter. 

The suspect then proceeded to commit more shootings in Washington Heights.

At approximately 3:45 p.m., he entered a gas station on the 9300 block of South Halsted Street, announcing a robbery and shooting 20-year-old Anthony Faulkner in the head. Faulkner died from his injuries. He also shot an 81-year-old woman, who is in critical condition.

At 5 p.m., he shot a 15-year-old girl, a passenger in a vehicle driven by a relative on the 10300 block of South Halsted, critically injuring her.

At approximately 5:04 p.m., he shot a Chicago Police Department vehicle on the 9300 block of South Halsted.

"(The suspect) is wanted for two homicides from today and a robbery from today," the dispatcher on the Chicago police scanner said at 5:33 p.m. on Saturday. "If anyone sees him, use caution — he is on a shooting spree." 

Later on Saturday evening, police in Rogers Park responded to a ShotSpotter call at Howard Street and Western Avenue, where nearby the offender entered a retail establishment in Evanston, announced a robbery and fled to a nearby restaurant, where he shot the woman and was shot by the Evanston Police and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Aly Tantawy contributed reporting.