Crime & Safety
'Four Counts of Attempted Murder' For Skokie Shooter
A Cook County grand jury has now upgraded charges against Alexander Soballe, the 20-year-old Skokie resident who allegedly fired eight shots at a moving vehicle during rush hour traffic in Skokie.
Alexander Soballe, the 20-year-old in downtown Skokie, is now charged with four counts of attempted murder. Soballe was originally charged with but a grand jury upgraded those charges on July 2, according to police.
All three people inside the vehicle were "known" to Soballe, according to police. It is unclear if he was targetting one or multiple people. The trio came under fire on June 14 while travelling westbound in the 4800 block of Oakton Street when Soballe, who was on foot, fired eight times at the vehicle. He would then flee on foot to his home in the 4900 block of Louise Avenue, police said.
Based on a witness description, officers arriving on scene were able to quickly locate and arrest Soballe.
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“We believe this suspect would have committed this act wherever these parties would have crossed paths," . "It didn’t happen because of Skokie, it happened because Mr. Soballe was allegedly in conflict with the other person so wherever they crossed paths, he was going to do this.”
In a different offense, Soballe was charged with two counts of misdemeanor aggravated assault after he allegedly threatened two people with a baseball bat during a traffic dispute on May 30. Those victims were “unknown” to Soballe, police said.
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What residents are saying –
Angelo Maltese was outside Walgreen’s in downtown Skokie a few days after the shooting. He said he’s outraged at the “audacity” of the alleged shooter.
“You got a guy that’s pissed off shooting a gun outside a CTA stop and in the middle of rush hour,” Maltese said. “He didn’t give a s*** about anyone but himself. I see kids riding to the pool everyday here … My God, someone could have gotten killed.”
"When I go running, this is the exact sidewalk that I run on,” said one Skokie Patch reader on the alleged shooting. “I ran literally where the shots were fired today, on that sidewalk yesterday evening. I’m shocked, very glad and thankful I did not go running [the day of the shooting]. I will think twice about that area from now on.”
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