CHARGES FILED IN NORTHWEST SUBURBAN HOTEL SHOOTING
Friday, April 30, 2010 — Bond was set today at $100,000 for a 23-year-old Melrose Park man who is accused of firing a shot through a hotel room door and injuring a friend, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Friday.
Louis Smith is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, all of which are felonies.
He is accused of shooting a man while both were staying at the O’Hare Kitchenette West Hotel, 2540 N. Mannheim Rd., in unincorporated Leyden Township. The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Witnesses said Smith had been arguing with a friend in that friend’s hotel room when he announced “I’m not a fighter, I’m a shooter,” and left the room. Surveillance footage showed Smith went to his room and came out with an object in his hand which appeared to be a handgun. The victim was standing outside his hotel room when Smith approached and another friend pulled the victim back into the room and closed the door.
Witnesses said that’s when Smith fired a shot through the door. It struck the victim in the back and Smith fled the scene. Investigators located a .38-caliber handgun from an easement area near where Smith ran. It had a spent shell casing in the barrel.
The victim was treated and released from Loyola University Medical Center. He told investigators he didn’t want to press charges against Smith because he forgave him for shooting him.
