CHICAGO — A Chicago man has pleaded guilty in federal court to shooting two federal agents who were conducting a covert federal investigation with a Chicago police task force officer in Morgan Park.
Eugene McLaurin, 31, of Chicago, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of assaulting a federal officer and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence.
During the early morning hours of July 2, 2021, two special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency, and a Chicago police task force officer were riding together in an unmarked police vehicle while on an undercover investigation on Chicago’s South Side.
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>>> Accused Shooter Says He Thought Feds Were Rival Gang Members: ATF
The officers noticed they were being followed by a white Chevrolet Malibu, and recorded the license plate number. As the unmarked police vehicle entered the on-ramp to Interstate 57 at 119th Street, the feds said the driver of the Malibu, later identified as McLaurin, pulled up next to the police vehicle. A man, later identified as McLaurin, opened fire, wounding all three officers, according to the federal complaint.
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The injured officers drove for help to the 22nd District Chicago Police station about a mile away on Monterrey Street. All three law enforcement officers were seriously wounded. They were treated and released from Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Shortly after the shooting, the feds said McLaurin ditched his handgun in a sewer drain and hid the key to his vehicle in the basement of his residence to conceal evidence of his involvement in the shootings.
Upon his arrest, McLaurin told police he thought the federal agents and Chicago police task force officer were rival gang members, according to his plea agreement.
Each firearm count is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in federal prison and a maximum of life. Each assault count is punishable by up to 20 years. McLaurin has been detained in federal custody since his arrest in 2021. U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah set sentencing for March 13, 2024.
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