Domestic disputes can be sourced as the genesis for several “active shooter” events wherein more victims are attacked, shot and/or killed beyond the assumed primary target. That was the case on November 19, 2018 when Juan Lopez, then 32 years old, went to Mercy Hospital in Chicago, IL to confront his ex-fiancé and, apparently, reclaim the engagement ring.
Prior to the actual shooting event, there were witnesses to an argument between Lopez and his former fiancé, one of the victims of the shooting attack, Dr. Tamara O’Neal. Dr. O’Neal, then 38 years old, was working in the emergency room when she was confronted by Lopez in the parking area. One witness claimed that he heard Lopez demand “the ring” from O’Neal and that O’Neal had run to the group of witnesses while on the phone with 911 claiming that Lopez would kill her.
When Lopez realized he wasn’t getting the ring from O’Neal, either because she did not have it with her or wouldn’t return it, he shot her six times. After that shooting, reports contradict each other. Some claim that Lopez went into the hospital to continue shooting while others claim that he was still in the parking lot when the police arrived and that Lopez retreated into the hospital under pursuit of the police.
Either way, after killing O’Neal, Lopez went into the hospital and continued his attack. Inside he shot a 25-year-old pharmacy resident who did of her wounds. Lopez was quickly engaged by a number of responding police officers, one of who was shot in the exchange of gunfire and who later died of his wounds. Officer Samuel Jimenez, after being shot, was transported to a different hospital (University of Chicago Medical Center) in critical condition and he later died as a result of the wounds. After the scene was secured and police declared it safe, Lopez was discovered with a bullet wound in his head. The available reports don’t indicate if it was fired by the responding police or if it was self-inflicted.
This attack by Juan Lopez is another example of how previous behavior may have been a strong indicator for potential violence. Lopez, while holding a concealed carry permit and a Firearm Owners ID (FOID) card, had a history of domestic violence, or threat thereof. During court proceedings after filing a petition for a protective order against Lopez, his ex-wife alleged that he had not only threatened and harassed her, but had also threatened her with a gun.
Five years prior to the attack Lopez was reportedly terminated from the Chicago Fire Academy for improper conduct toward females and “improper conduct” in general. In the five years between his dismissal from the Fire Academy and the date of the attack, he reportedly purchased four weapons. How does a man with a history of domestic violence and an employment termination after which he threatened violence with a firearm toward the Academy and staff in general... how does a man with that in his background purchase four more weapons? How does he get a concealed carry permit? How does he have the required license to purchase a firearm in Illinois?
True to form, gun control was debated after this attack but Illinois already had (has) some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation and the changes that might have mattered weren’t even discussed in the mainstream media. Obviously the court databases that held record of Lopez’s previous domestic violence behavior and the city employment/termination records were not accessed when he applied for his Concealed Carry Permit or his Firearm Owners ID. At least theoretically, if those records had been accessed, he would have been denied the carry permit and the FOID and not been permitted to purchase four more weapons.
Still, this begs the question: If he had been denied the carry permit and the FOID, would it have stopped the shooting? None of the records this author could find indicated whether Lopez owned the weapon he performed the attack with prior to the time of his termination from the Chicago Fire Academy. While he might have been prevented from purchasing the four weapons in that five year time frame between his termination and the attack, if he had owned other weapons prior to that then he would still have had the capability of committing the attack.
As a final note, it’s important to honor our fallen and note the risk that is involved with all active shooter / mass attack response. We may have to accept the risk and face it head on, but it should never be treated lightly or dismissed in examination of events. 28-year-old Officer Samuel Jimenez accepted the risk and sacrificed himself while performing his duties to protect others.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
