Gun Report Near Evanston Schools Leads To 2 Arrests, Weapon Recovery

EVANSTON, IL — Two men were arrested after Evanston police investigated a report of a person displaying a gun near Park School on Wednesday, according to police.

Police said a Park School employee called 911 at 11:20 a.m. after seeing a man walking with what appeared to be a gun near Main Street and Ridge Avenue.

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An officer then saw a man matching the caller's description in the 800 block of Greenleaf Street. Police stopped the man without incident on the sidewalk outside the main entrance to Nichols Middle School and found a semiautomatic Glock 42 handgun in his waistband, police reported. The gun was unloaded and its magazine was empty, according to police.

Police identified that man as Mahamat N. Abakar, 18, of Evanston, and took him in for processing. He was charged with one Class 4 felony count of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon for not having a FOID card and one Class 3 felony count of unlawful possession of a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school.

After reviewing school surveillance video, Park School's assistant principal and school safety staff determined that a second individual was the person they had seen displaying what appeared to be a handgun near Park School. Staff later spotted that individual near the school again and called 911 a second time.

Officers and detectives then located Benjamin J. Miller, 31, of Evanston, walking south on Custer Avenue near Madison Street, police said. Officers stopped him and recovered a lighter designed to look like a handgun.

Police said Miller acknowledged being near Park School but denied threatening anyone with the replica. Detectives also learned during the investigation that Miller was a sex offender who had not complied with mandatory registration requirements.

He was arrested Wednesday and charged Thursday with one Class 3 felony count of failure to register a new residence, a violation of the sex offender registration act.

Park and Nichols schools began secure and teach procedures after the initial sighting and weapon recovery. During that procedure, outside doors are secured, while students and staff can still move around inside.

On top of that, District 65 schools had a half day on Wednesday, and few students remained in the buildings at the time. Both schools lifted the procedures after Evanston police advised that the area was safe.

Abakar was transported to the Skokie Courthouse on Nov. 5 for a preliminary bond hearing. His next scheduled court appearance is Nov. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 105 at the Skokie Courthouse. Miller remained in Evanston police custody and was to be taken to the Skokie Courthouse on Friday for a pretrial release hearing. His next court date will be set after that hearing.