A Cook County judge ordered a Chicago firefighter facing felony charges, including attempted murder, in connection with an off-duty road rage shooting last weekend released on electronic monitoring.
Judge Susana Ortiz said that although she didn’t believe there was a legally justifiable reason for Omotayo Kassim to shoot a man with whom he was involved in a minor traffic accident, she said she believed it was “an isolated incident” and monitoring was enough to ensure his return to court and the protection of the community.
Ortiz said Kassim would also be required to surrender any firearms in his possession to police, could not drive and would be largely restricted to his home as the case continues.
Kassim, 34, was driving to get food about 8 p.m. Sunday in a Chevrolet Tahoe when both he and the 35-year-old driver of a Jeep disobeyed stop signs at a four-way intersection near the the 5200 block of North Clark Street, Cook County prosecutors said in court Wednesday.
Kassim’s SUV struck the Jeep, but its driver did not stop and instead drove off, prosecutors said. A dash-mounted camera in Kassim’s SUV and multiple surveillance cameras then captured a six-minute chase as the firefighter pursued the Jeep on Foster Avenue.
Kassim allegedly struck the Jeep from behind with his SUV several times. The Jeep crashed into parked cars in the 1600 block of West Foster Avenue in Andersonville, according to a police report.
Kassim got out of the Tahoe brandishing a gun, and moments later fired a shot that struck the Jeep driver in his jaw, prosecutors said.
“Judge, this happened incredibly, incredibly fast,” Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers said.
After firing once, the gun jammed, a police report said.
At a nearby church, Philip Fahey, 63, and a friend were preparing for an event and said they saw what happened.
“Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” the firefighter yelled, according to Fahey.
“We heard a pop,” Fahey told the Sun-Times. “The guy in the Tahoe realizes he left his truck in gear, and it was rolling down the street.”
“I thought [the pop] was part of the car accident,” Fahey said. “When he said he got shot and there was a shooting, I realized it was actually a gunshot.”
A cab driver in the area called 911, and Kassim began arguing with the Jeep’s passenger, a 34-year-old West Ridge man who stepped out with his hands up, according to police.
They argued until paramedics arrived, according to Fahey. The passenger declined to comment when reached by the Sun-Times.
“It just seems kind of unreasonable that this guy got shot for a traffic altercation,” Fahey said.
Kassim was arrested at the scene and charged Tuesday with aggravated battery with a firearm, attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
The Jeep driver was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition. Prosecutors said the bullet that stuck his jaw remained lodged in his spine.
Kassim’s attorney, David McDermott, disputed the prosecutor’s characterization of the events, claiming that the Jeep driver had been drinking and “violently” struck Kassim’s SUV before fleeing the scene.
McDermott said Kassim was trying to protect the community by going after the Jeep driver and that his client fired because the Jeep driver reached for Kassim’s gun.
Judge Ortiz said she believed the firefighter had put the public in significant danger by driving recklessly in pursuit of the Jeep and firing the gun on the street. The judge also noted Kassim would have received training specifically about road rage incidents in order to receive his concealed carry permit and should have known better.
“You call the police and you report it,” Ortiz said.
Kassim, employed by the Chicago Fire Department since 2019, was removed from duty pending the results of the investigation, fire spokesperson Larry Langford said.
In August 2015, a warrant was issued for Kassim’s arrest after he left Colorado while facing charges of trespassing a vehicle with intent to commit a crime, but the case was dropped a month later, court documents showed.
The victim’s father told the Sun-Times that his son was still sedated and intubated Tuesday afternoon.
“All of our family, we’re just praying,” said the victim’s father, who didn’t want to be named. “We’re stunned by this, especially, I mean, the way it happened.”
The man’s father saw his son Sunday morning, hours before he was shot.
“He said, ‘I love you guys’ like he always does and just left,” he said.
He described his son as someone who is “a very loving person and is always happy.
“He makes you smile no matter what.”
