A 19-year-old man from Chicago’s South Side has been arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, in connection with a triple shooting that occurred during an attempted theft at a Jewel-Osco supermarket last November.
According to police, Elijah Theodore was taken into custody on Friday and extradited to Chicago, where he faces an attempted murder charge for the incident on November 11. Prosecutorial documents from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office state that Theodore and another individual entered the store at 443 E. 34th St., took flowers and a card without paying, and tried to leave.
When a 46-year-old security guard intervened, Theodore allegedly pushed him and fired a gun. The security guard was shot several times in his lower body and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition. A 29-year-old woman was hit in her left foot and hospitalized in stable condition. Another woman, aged 67, was grazed in her foot but declined medical treatment at the scene.
Chicago fire officials told ABC7 that two additional people were injured while fleeing from the scene.
Theodore is charged only in connection with the shooting of the security guard. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in Maricopa County, Arizona. After being apprehended in Phoenix, Theodore appeared before a judge on Saturday and was ordered held in Cook County Jail pending trial.
“Issuing a warrant for his arrest led to his capture out of state,” according to prosecutorial documents from Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
