Ex-Con Accused Of Shooting 2 People At Walmart Ordered Detained

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A 20-year-old man accused in a shooting that wounded two people in a crowded Walmart earlier this week was order detained while his case is pending. Yoseph Barnes, of Chicago, appeared Friday before Cook County Associate Judge William N. Fahy on a charge of attempted murder.

Barnes is currently on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections for possession of a machine gun, the prosecutor said.

According to prosecutors, just before 3 p.m. Wednesday, Barnes was seated in the backseat of the driver’s gray Hyundai, with another person seated in the front passenger seat, when they pulled into Walmart, 2500 W. 95th St. in Evergreen Park.

>>> Walmart Shooter In Custody, Chased Male Victim Into Store While Firing Gun: Evergreen Park Police

A 23-year-old man passed by the Hyundai when the prosecutor said Barnes got out of the vehicle and began pursuing him into the store. Barnes chased the man through the produce department, where he shot the 23-year-old, identified in the complaint as “Victim 1,” the prosecutor said.

“Victim 1” ran through the produce department as Barnes shot at him, the prosecutor said. After a brief struggle between the victim and Barnes, the prosecutor said the victim managed to grab the gun. Barnes is believed to have escaped through the fire exit.

Meanwhile, a 70-year-old shopper was grazed on her left foot and toes. She was found outside the store when police arrived.

Evergreen Park police and other assisting agencies cleared the store, where they found the 23-year-old man in aisle 19, with five gunshot wounds to his legs. By then, prosecutors say he had lost three to five liters of blood. Nearby was a Glock 9 with an empty magazine.

A total of ten shots were fired. Nine shell casings were found in the path of flight from the produce department to aisle 19. Barnes was found a short time later hiding in the recycling bin of a home in the 9300 block of County Club Drive, behind the store, the prosecutor said.

Witnesses also identified Barnes in the immediate aftermath, the prosecutor said. Walmart security video also is said to have shown muzzle fire.

The prosecutor said the 23-year-old man remains hospitalized in stable condition.

“The state still doesn’t know his motive and no one has been able to determine if they had a relationship,” the prosecutor told the judge, arguing that the charge was a non-probational offense and met the standards for pre-trial detainment.

“He walked into a store in the middle of the day crowded with people going about their business and began shooting, showing his callous disregard for the safety of the community,” the prosecutor said.

The assistant public defender said Barnes was a high school graduate and is currently working in a sanitation program. “After two days, we still have no DNA or prints to corroborate. There is no indication that the shell casings came from the same weapon.”

Judge Fahy called the shooting a “horrific act of violence inside a big box store at 3 in the afternoon.

“It’s troubling enough that a 20-year-old is in illegal possession of a gun while on parole,” he said. “He pointed the gun and shot at another human being.”

The judge went on to say that parole did not deter him. Neither would electronic monitoring, which the judge said would be cut off within 24 hours.

Barnes was paroled in March from the Shawnee Correctional Center, where he had been serving a four-year sentence for possession of a machine gun, according to IDOC records.

The judge said Barnes met all the criteria for pre-trial detention and ordered Barnes to be held at Cook County Jail. His next court date is Nov. 9 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.