No arrest yet in State Street shooting

August 21, 2011 – More than 20 Chicago police officers – including 18th District Police Commander Kenneth Angarone – were on the scene of a shooting two weeks ago of a Marina City employee on the State Street Bridge. But as of Friday afternoon, no one has been arrested.

At 5 p.m. on August 8, 29-year-old Todd Brown, who had been a dishwasher at Smith & Wollensky for about five weeks, was walking north on the bridge when he was shot and seriously injured by a tall black male who was wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt and dark pants. The suspect – described by witnesses as about 25 years old, six feet two inches tall, 170 pounds, with black hair – then went to the south end of the bridge, turned left, and ran east on Wacker Drive.

(Above) Scene of the shooting, looking north on State Street toward Marina City.

Brown, described in the police report as a black male, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious condition. Although he was shot in the head, the bullet lodged in skin and did not pass into his skull.

Police believe Brown, who has a criminal record and was shot once before, was “specifically targeted.”

“The victim was shot in extremely close proximity by the offender,” said Gary Yanashiroya, commander of the detective division for the area north of the Chicago River, “which is one of the reasons why we don’t think it was random.”