Suspected Mass Shooter Released On Bail Shoots Up Black Neighborhood

Suspected Mass Shooter Released On Bail Shoots Up Black Neighborhood, 5 Guns & Over 1,000 Bullets

A suburban White man fired a shotgun into a Chicago park in a predominantly African American neighborhood on Thursday. The gunman had five firearms, over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and handwritten notes about “recent mass shootings” and he’s now been released on bail.

Judge Maryam Ahmad heard the allegations against Alexander Podgorny, 29, during a bail hearing on Friday afternoon. She ordered him to pay just $300,000 cash bail – and then released him back onto the public, despite calling the weapons found in his possession, “war weapons.”

This decision has caused widespread anger all across social media. Last month, a White mass shooter targeted innocent Black people in Buffalo, New York – killing 10 people, mostly elderly. Police have not concluded the investigation into Alexander – but folks all across social media are worried that he may have been attempting a Buffalo style mass shooting of his own, and are concerned that he’s free.

Early Thursday morning, police monitoring surveillance cameras saw a man get out of a minivan, fire one shot into the Engelwood park – in a predominantly Black neighborhood – then get back into the vehicle, prosecutor Steven Haamid said.

Chicago cops stopped Alexander at the scene and found a loaded handgun in his pants pocket, according to the arrest report.

Police then searched his car and were shocked at what they discovered. On his minivan’s driver’s seat were a semiautomatic shotgun loaded with seven rounds and an AR-15 LRWC rifle, according to CPD inventory records and Haamid. Two more handguns were found inside a bucket on the minivan’s passenger seat, Haamid said.

Police also found “well over 1,000 rounds of ammunition” of various calibers inside the van, Haamid said, adding that all five firearms that police recovered were loaded. The CPD report said officers also found more than 300 spent shell casings inside the vehicle.

Investigators also found handwritten notes, including a list of guns that Podgorny did not have, places he could get those weapons, and Podgorny’s thoughts about his dog and the Uvalde mass shooting, according to Haamid.