CHICAGO —Bail was denied Sunday for a man who was shot by a Millennium Park security guard over the weekend.
Jordan Jackson, 22, was charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, police said.
The incident began at 7:22 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of East Monroe Street, when Jackson refused to be checked for weapons at an entry point to the park, police said. The man then ran away as guards approached him, police said.
Police initially said the man fired shots at the guard, but the Sun-Times reports Jackson did not actually fire the weapon. Prosecutors said Jackson turned toward officers while aiming a silver handgun when one of the guards, an off-duty Cook County sheriff’s police officer, fired at him, according to the Sun-Times.
CBS Chicago reports the wounded man ran off and jumped on to a party boat along the river before being arrested. He was hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries,
Chicago police tweeted that they found the handgun he allegedly used in the river, though Jackson’s public defender said it was “questionable” to link him to the weapon, according to the Sun-Times.
Metal detectors and security checkpoints were set up at the park beginning on Thursday night, along with a curfew that outlaws minors who are not accompanied by an adult from going to the park after 6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the curfew and added security measures after 16-year-old Seandell Holliday was killed near The Bean last Saturday. On May 10, another teenager — later revealed to be 19-year-old Tyshon Brownlee — was shot and wounded near The Bean. Brownlee was charged Tuesday for the attempted murder of a culinary student in Lincoln Park and a series of armed robberies across the North Side.
It’s not the first time security checkpoints have been used at Downtown parks, but it’s typically for large events — not for everyday life. While the checkpoints received backlash from Chicagoans online, most visitors in the park said they didn’t mind the extra security. Several tourists told Block Club Thursday the precautions made them feel safer after the recent shootings.
“It’s good because … anything can happen,” said Paola Encolna, who was visiting from Florida.
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