Evanston Man Charged In Pair Of Drive-By Shootings In Skokie

SKOKIE, IL — An Evanston man is accused of twice shooting toward a group of people in Skokie, authorities said. According to police, the man charged in connection with a pair of drive-by shootings in the parking lots of Skokie Northshore Channel Park and XSport Fitness had legally bought a handgun just a few days earlier — at the time filling out paperwork to purchase an AR-15 rifle he could have picked up as early as the day of his arrest.

Tyrese Bishop, 21, of the 1700 block of Foster Street, was arrested May 27 and charged with discharge of a firearm, a class 1 felony, and reckless discharge of a firearm, a class 4 felony, according to Skokie police reports. Police said Bishop had a firearm owners identification card but not a concealed carry license at the time of his arrest.

"Listen, I'm sitting here in the park, and some guy came by in a car, then he made a U-turn and he took a shot at the people in the park," a 911 caller reported from the McCormick Boulevard park around 2:30 p.m. on May 26.

"They don't know him," the dispatcher was told. "I guess there was something happening before, two days ago, the same thing happened."

One of the people on scene showed officers screenshots of messages they believed were related, police reported. One of the text messages said, "LIKE NO IM NOT GOIN NOBODY GONNA SEND SHOOTERS OUT," while a Snapchat message said, "I hope [redacted] was with ya'll when i sent them shots over to ya'll," according to police.

In the first incident, the shooter was alone, according to police reports and 911 calls. Bishop would later tell Skokie police he fired a single round from his recently purchased Glock out of the sunroof of his distinctive gray Ford Focus with purple rims, according to Det. Steven Nelson. The detective reported Bishop said he "did not try to hit anyone in the group, he just wanted them to know he had a gun too."

Around 11 p.m. on May 26, Bishop picked up a passenger, and they headed to the XSport Fitness parking lot ahead of the second incident of gunfire, police reported. They both told investigators they were looking for the same group of people who hang out at the park off northbound McCormick Boulevard, according to police reports.

Shortly before midnight, men in the parking lot described seeing a "green laser" coming from a gunman in a gray Ford before witnessing at least three gunshots as they scattered.

"When I see the laser I tell my friends: he is going to shoot me," one of the 911 callers told a dispatcher. "With the laser, and then he is shooting."

Bishop told detectives both May 26 shootings were retaliation for a May 23 incident, according to Det. Nelson's report. Bishop said he had been driving for Uber when he pulled into a parking lot off McCormick Boulevard. An unidentified man walked up to him, and they "exchanged words," according to the report.

Bishop, unarmed at the time, turned around in a nearby gas station and when he passed the parking lot again he heard several gunshots and said he "thought they were shooting at him," according to Nelson, who pointed out in his report Bishop had made a $100 down payment for the Glock he is accused of shooting three days prior to the purported provocation.

Police reported one of the three people identified as victims in the incident near Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park told officers the driver of the gray Ford pulled up moments before the afternoon shooting and said, "You were the guys that shot at me last time."

According to police, Det. Robert Olkowski released an alert on May 23 containing information from Evanston police indicating Bishop was a potential suspect in a call of shots fired shortly before 8 p.m. that day. Records show Bishop picked up the gun he is accused of firing the next day. Patch has requested further details about that incident and Bishop's indictment.

Bishop was placed on electronic home monitoring ahead of his next court appearance July 17, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.