Latest news with #CharlesLeto
CBS News
15-07-2025
- CBS News
Chicago Park District says accused Douglass Park shooter Charles Leto had previous conflicts with visitors, staff
The Chicago Park District said their internal investigation of a lifeguard charged with murder for shooting two teen boys, one fatally, in Douglass Park in June revealed some previous conflicts with visitors and staff. Charles Leto, 55, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm for shooting a 14-year-old and 15-year-old boy in Douglass Park on June 26. The 15-year-old boy died. He was identified as Marjay Dotson. The 14-year-old was critically injured and underwent surgery, and is recovering. His family identified him as Jeremy Herred. Police said Dotson was shot in the back and Herred was shot in the neck. The shooting happened moments after the Douglass Park pool, where Leto worked as a lifeguard, closed on June 26. The day after the shooting, the park district launched its own internal review. They said Leto passed all required background checks, and that a February 2023 incident in which he shot two dogs didn't come up during the hiring process because it did not result in an arrest or charges. The district also said Leto had been involved in several "verbal altercations" with staff and patrons at Douglass Park. They said they managed the altercations at the local level by talking to Leto, and did not formally document them or track them in the central personnel system. Officials also said Leto did not tell them about any concerns for his or others' safety in the days leading up to the shooting. Leto was placed on emergency unpaid suspension the day after the shooting, then resigned. The park district said he has been placed on their Ineligible for Rehire list. The district said this review revealed "significant weaknesses" in employee oversight, communication and documentation that they will now take steps to address. Those steps will include centralizing the tracking of verbal warnings, patron complaints and employee coaching to better detect response and escalation if needed; expanded safety training; a new fixed-post security officer at Douglass Park; and community-led safety planning. The Chicago Park District also said they continue to fully support Leto's prosecution. Leto remains held in custody as he awaits trial. Please note: The above video is from a previous report.
CBS News
02-07-2025
- CBS News
North Lawndale group demands answers, changes from Chicago Park District after lifeguard charged with shooting teens
The North Lawndale Chamber of Commerce is demanding an apology and accountability from the Chicago Park District, after a lifeguard allegedly shot two teens, killing one of them outside the Douglass Park pool last week. Police have said 55-year-old Charles Leto shot and killed 15-year-old Marjay Dotson and injured 14-year-old Jeremy Herred near the Douglass Park pool on Thursday. Park district officials said Leto is no longer an employee. He had been placed on unpaid leave the day after the shooting, and the district swiftly moved to fire him, but he resigned to avoid termination. He has been placed on the district's "do not hire" list. Now the chamber of commerce is asking for more from the park district. They want to see improvements like foot patrol security around the park and surrounding areas, a community liaison at the Douglass Park pool to work with staff and families, and consistent mandatory background checks from the park district. CBS News Investigators spoke with a Lakeview neighbor who said Leto shot two of her dogs and killed one in 2023, leading to a standoff with a police SWAT team. Leto was not charged for shooting the dogs, after police determined he shot them in fear of his own life, so that incident did not show up on his background check at the park district. "Nowhere in the parks hiring system or background check did that show a red flag to say maybe he's not the best person to put around our children if we can't have him around dogs," North Lawndale Chamber of Commerce president Dinita Robinson said. Leto is being held in Cook County Jail while he awaits trial.
CBS News
02-07-2025
- CBS News
Charles Leto, lifeguard charged with shooting 2 teens, no longer works for Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District said Tuesday night that Charles Leto, the lifeguard charged in a shooting that killed one teenage boy and wounded another in Douglass Park last week, is no longer an employee The Park District said it placed Leto on unpaid emergency suspension on Friday, the day after the shooting. The district then took swift action to fire Leto under the process outlined in its collective bargaining agreement. But Leto resigned in lieu of termination, the Park District said. Leto has been placed on the Park District's Do Not Rehire list, meaning he cannot work for the Park District again in the future. Leto, 55, was ordered held in First Appearance Court on Sunday on one count each of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated discharge of a firearm. He is charged in the shooting this past Thursday evening that killed 15-year-old Marjay Dotson and seriously wounded 14-year-old Jeremy Herred this past Thursday in Douglass Park in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Jeremy is the cousin of Laquan McDonald, who was shot and killed by police in 2014. Prosecutors said Leto opened fire on the teens following a quarrel with a third teenage boy identified as "Victim 3" after Leto found his bicycle had been moved. There was no evidence that the people who moved the bike were the teen victims in the case, nor that the teenage boys threatened Leto or were armed, prosecutors said. The Park District said it is fully cooperating with the Chicago Police Department following the incident, and said it has also launched a comprehensive internal review to understand what led to the events of last week. Meanwhile, CBS News Chicago learned that Leto was involved in another shooting more than two years ago. Jacqui Korvas Michels said when Leto was her neighbor two years ago, he shot both of her dogs — killing one and injuring the other — in her alley next to her garage in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. CBS News Chicago did a story on that case back in February 2023, and on how a SWAT team came to look for the shooter after he walked away. Ultimately, police said when they found the man now known to be Leto, he told officers he had shot the dogs in fear for his life.
Chicago Tribune
30-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Man charged in Douglass Park shooting that killed one is linked to prior self-defense claim in shooting of dogs
For the second time in three years, Charles Leto has claimed he opened fire in self-defense. Over the weekend, prosecutors say, he shot at three unarmed teenagers in Douglass Park, killing a 15-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 14-year-old in a crowded park during a summer evening. More than two years earlier, he shot two dogs in Lakeview, killing one and sparking a response by a Chicago Police SWAT team, according to an attorney for the Douglass Park victims. The tragic shooting was decried as 'senseless' by a relative of one of the boys, and prosecutors alleged that nothing backs up Leto's claim of self-defense. On the contrary, they said, his account is disputed by witnesses and surveillance video. Leto, 55, was arrested over the weekend after the shooting early Saturday night near the Douglass Park pool. He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and two other felonies, which Leto, a Chicago Park District lifeguard, claimed to police had been in self-defense after the boys attacked and followed him. During his initial court appearance on Sunday, Leto, who had a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card and Concealed Carry License, was ordered held pending trial. Witnesses said the two boys approached the man as part of a group as he was fixing his bike near the park fieldhouse and that the man took a gun out of his backpack and fired two shots, according to a CPD report. The older teen, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as 15-year-old Marjay Dotson, was shot in the lower right back and pronounced dead around 7:40 p.m., while the younger teen was shot in the neck and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, police said. Asked about the case and the prior dog shooting, Leto's attorney, Jayne Ingles, said in a statement to the Tribune: 'Charles Leto is a Marine veteran who served his country. He was a dedicated advocate for preserving Douglass Pool as an important community resource. We are committed to ensuring that his actions are understood in full context and that his rights are protected as this matter proceeds.' Two years earlier, Leto was involved in the dog shooting in the Lakeview neighborhood, according to Jeffrey Neslund, an attorney for the families of the two teens. In February 2023, a woman was with her two unleashed dogs in the alley of the 1000 block of West Oakdale, authorities said at the time. When a man entered the alley, the dogs advanced on him 'in an aggressive manner.' He drew a gun and fired at both dogs, killing one of them. A prolonged barricade situation followed as a CPD SWAT team responded to the scene. Leto was not cited or charged in that shooting. This time, surveillance footage contradicted his self-defense claim, according to prosecutors. 'He claimed he was attacked by two juveniles and that he was being followed by two kids,' according to a proffer. 'He claimed that one juvenile lunged at him and he fired in self defense.' But the investigation turned up different accounts, according to the proffer. Around 7 p.m., the pool closed, and Leto went to retrieve his bike, according to the proffer. The bike had been moved from where it was parked near the pool and left up some stairs. There is no information that indicates any of the teens had moved the bike, according to the proffer, but Leto nonetheless got into an argument about the bike with one of the teens. Afterward, Leto walked his bike on the sidewalk, flipped it upside down and then began rummaging through his backpack, the proffer said. Meanwhile, the three teens also walked down the sidewalk. Investigators interviewed witnesses, none of whom reported that the teens threatened Leto. The boys were unarmed, according to the proffer. As one of the teens walked past Leto along the sidewalk and as another reached toward the bike, the proffer alleged, Leto aimed a pistol and shot, hitting one of the teens in the lower back. The teen had been turning away from Leto, the proffer said. Leto then turned and fired shots at the two other teens who were 'the grassy area at a distance from the defendant,' the proffer said. One of the teens was shot and the other put his hands up and walked backwards away from Leto. He was not struck. Leto then called 911 and said he was 'attacked by children at the park,' the proffer said. Inside Leto's backpack were two magazines, a Kevlar panel and a satellite phone, according to the proffer. Over the weekend, the teen wounded in the Douglass Park shooting was identified by his family as Jeremy Herred, whose great-great uncle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter, called the gunfire 'senseless.' 'It's a sign of the times in which we live,' he said. 'And I'm praying that people will reverse their attitude as it pertains to conflict resolution and violence,' Hunter said Saturday. Herred is a relative of Laquan McDonald, whose murder by Officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014 helped expose foundational problems with policing in Chicago. Herred remained hospitalized in critical condition, the family said. 'No weapon — the weapon at home in a lock box, secured — and my nephew would not be wounded and fighting for his life,' Hunter said. 'And Marjay, the other young man, would not be dead.'
CBS News
30-06-2025
- CBS News
Neighbor says Chicago lifeguard charged with shooting 2 teens, killing 1, also shot 2 her dogs in 2023
A Chicago Park District lifeguard charged in a shooting that killed one teenage boy and wounded another in Douglass Park last week has been tied to a shooting in the past, CBS News Chicago has learned. Charles Leto, 55, was ordered held in First Appearance Court on Sunday on one count each of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated discharge of a firearm. He is charged in the shooting this past Thursday evening that killed 15-year-old Marjay Dotson and seriously wounded 14-year-old Jeremy Herred this past Thursday in Douglass Park in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Jeremy is the cousin of Laquan McDonald, who was shot and killed by police in 2014. Marjay Dotson and Jeremy Herred Supplied to CBS Prosecutors said Leto opened fire on the teens following a quarrel with a third teenage boy identified as "Victim 3" after Leto found his bicycle had been moved. There was no evidence that the people who moved the bike were the teen victims in the case, nor that the teenage boys threatened Leto or were armed, prosecutors said. Jacqui Korvas-Michels said when Leto was her neighbor two years ago, he shot both of her dogs — killing one and injuring the other — in her alley next to her garage in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. Jacqui Korvas-Michels says Charles Leto shot her two dogs, killing one, in Lakeview in February 2023. Jacqui Korvas-Michels Korvas-Michels said she was taking out the trash when Leto walked out of his apartment, saw her two dogs, walked back inside, grabbed a gun, and came out firing at the animals. "Don't you think there is something wrong with someone who keeps shooting people, and dogs?" Korvas-Michels said. "God know what else he's gotten away with." CBS News Chicago did a story on the case back in February 2023, and on how a SWAT team came to look for the shooter after he walked away. "SWAT came, FBI," Korvas-Michels said. "We had helicopters." CBS News Chicago reported at the time that the SWAT team was on the scene for five hours in the area of Seminary Avenue and George Street — first identifying the man now identified as Leto and then trying to make contact with him, and he was cooperative once they did so, police said. The standoff caused alarm and panic in the surrounding neighborhood, with some picturing an active shooter situation. Ultimately, police said when they found the man now known to be Leto, he told officers he had shot the dogs in fear for his life, CBS News Chicago reported at the time. He was not charged or cited. "He said he felt threatened," said Korvas-Michels. Over the weekend, Korvas-Michels saw the police photo of Leto, now facing charges in the shooting in Douglass Park. Korvas-Michels said when she saw Leto's mug shot, she saw "a crazy person." Video now shows Leto this past Thursday evening, on what seemed like a quiet day after the pool had closed for the night. Kids could be seen playing basketball in the background when gunfire erupted. Before the gunfire erupted, Marjay walked past the Leto along the sidewalk, while Victim 3, still on the grassy area, reached toward Leto's bike, prosecutors from the Cook County State's Attorney's office said. At that point, Leto stood up and aimed a gun at Marjay, who was turning away from Leto at the time, prosecutors said. Leto fired one shot at Marjay, striking him in the lower back, prosecutors said. Marjay fell to the ground. Leto then turned to his left and fired at Jeremy and Victim 3, who were in the grassy area some distance away, prosecutors said. Victim 3 put his hands in the air and walked backward, while Jeremy walked backward as well, prosecutors said. Jeremy was struck in the neck and fell to the ground. Marjay later died of his wounds. Jeremy was hospitalized in critical condition with life-threatening injuries to his neck — with the bullet having shattered his vertebrae and severed an artery that brings blood to his brain, prosecutors said. "He needs help getting off high things," said Korvas-Michels. "He needs assistance." Korvas-Michels showed how her surviving dog, Oakie, can barely walk after suffering gunshot wounds in the 2023 incident involving Leto. He has gone through numerous surgeries. "They had to reconstruct part of his paws, and close up the gunshot wounds, and teach him how to stand. The man should not be able to have a conceal and carry," Korvas-Michels said. "I feel sad. I'm at a loss. It's not going to bring it back, and I feel horrible for these families." Korvas-Michels claimed that in the process of shooting her dogs, Leto also pointed the gun right at her. CBS News Chicago has been looking into Leto's background. But there is no record on a background check of the case of the shooting of the two dogs, because Leto was not charged with or convicted of any crime. CBS News Chicago was waiting late Monday to hear back from the Cook County State's Attorney's office with questions on that shooting.
