Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin is hoping the swift work of local police officers following a recent shooting at the Oakbrook Center Mall will send a message to all would-be criminals.

“Make no mistake, in DuPage County public safety is our top priority and anyone who commits this type of violent crime in DuPage County will be apprehended, charged and, if found guilty, face a significant amount of time behind bars,” Berlin posted on Facebook. “The allegations that these two men opened fire in a crowded mall of between fifteen to twenty thousand people, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year are evidence of an unconscionable degree of violence and a complete and utter disregard for public safety.”

With four people left injured in the shooting, police have since charged Tyran Williams, 32, and Steven Lane, 29, both of Chicago, with a slew of felony weapon charges, with each now being held on $1 million bond.  

“I thank all the law enforcement agencies involved in this situation for their assistance,” Berlin said. “Within minutes, hundreds of police officers from across the county descended on the mall and quickly brought a chaotic situation under control.”

According to Oak Brook Police Chief James Kruger, on the evening of Dec. 23 two men began shooting at one another near the mall's Ann Taylor store. Officers soon arrived to quell the violence and assist the victims, who included Williams who was hit four times. Reports are officers recovered a Glock 9mm handgun near him.

In his post to Facebook, Berlin said Williams and Lane were in a verbal altercation when both pulled out weapons and began firing at one another as dozens of innocent bystanders roamed the area.

After a brief chase, Lane was taken into custody near the mall, where police allegedly recovered another G2C 9 mm weapon.

In the days after the incident and with one of the suspects at the time still on the loose, police maintained a heavy presence around the mall, with several squad cars circling the area nonstop.

DuPage County Commissioner Peter DiCianni placed much of the blame for the rising violence at the feet of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, blasting her for what he views as her failure to crack down on violent crime across the state, especially in the areas of Chicago and other parts of Cook County, triggering more worries for neighboring communities.  

"DuPage County is always a county that prides itself that safety is a top priority," he said in an interview with WGN-TV. "And a lot of our violent crime has been coming in from the east. We have a [Cook County] state’s attorney that often does not prosecute the crime as she should. I can tell you that these offenders, speaking on behalf of our state’s attorney [in DuPage County], will be fully prosecuted.”

DiCianni said the incident at the mall was only kept from growing more out-of-control by the quick response of law enforcement.

"As a former mayor [in Elmhurst, Illinois], I saw my police officers helping out this community … we could have had casualties," he said. "Today we didn’t, thankfully, but we cannot allow this to happen in our county and our fine village of Oak Brook.”

Foxx, 49, took over as Cook County state’s attorney in 2016, marking the beginning of a tenure that has been filled with heavy criticism from Republicans for dropping several charges that were filed against Jussie Smollett in connection with the actor’s hate-crime claim.

In addition, a 2020 Chicago Tribune analysis found that Foxx "dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor."

Soon after that, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found that Cook County was on track in 2021 to see its highest carjacking numbers two decades, with such crimes up 43.5% over the year prior.

A group of Illinois Republicans and Chicago-area police chiefs late last year threw their support behind a bill that would grant lawmakers the power to override decisions by Foxx to lessen charges against criminal defendants.