ORLAND PARK – Illinois State Senator Elgie Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) was shopping with his family Monday night when shots rang out at Orland Square Mall – killing an 18 year old high school senior and wounding another person. The shooter escaped the mall and is still being sought Wednesday morning.
Officers say both the victim and the shooting suspect attended Rich Central High. Reports say the two argued in the mall's food court when shots rang out. Senator Sims, his wife, and two daughters were shopping at the Justice clothing store when shots rang out.
Sims responded immediately by telling people in the store to "get back, get down, get in the back and behind the counter because we didn’t know where the shooting was." Then, Sim told the Sun-Times Tuesday, "I came from behind and crawled behind the register and got the front doors locked.”
The shooting victim lay on the floor outside the Justice store, Sims said. “We stayed there [in the store] while they worked on him. I kept everyone in the back of the store so nobody — so the kids — didn’t have the chance to see him being worked on.”
Having been shot five times in the chest, the victim – Javon Britten of Richton Park – died at an area hospital.
“I have never seen the terror I saw in my children’s faces and I never want to see that again,” Sims told the Sun-Times. “My children and those other children’s faces, which is one of the reasons I wanted to keep all the kids away from seeing the body. I just did not want them to experience that.”
Tuesday, Sims released a statement about the incident, calling on the Illinois legislature to enact stricter gun laws.
“Last night, I, unfortunately, witnessed two tragedies. The first was yet another senseless shooting, as a young man was gunned down literally a few feet away from where I was shopping with my family, along with other families, at Orland Square Mall," Sims said in the statement.
“The second was the loss of innocence that died in the eyes of the children who witnessed the horrifying aftermath of the shooting. As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children and shield them from harsh realities. Yesterday, my heart sunk to the pit of my stomach realizing that these children will remember the violence that occurred for years to come.
“The shooting is yet another tragic reminder that the gun violence epidemic has only worsened in our country. It’s another reminder that we must act now in a meaningful way to address this problem and end the blood that flows onto the floors of churches, elementary schools, movie theaters, city streets and malls.
“The solutions are not a secret. We know that simple and broadly supported measures like universal background checks, cracking down on straw purchases and illegal weapon sales and limiting access to high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons would save countless lives. The time to act is now.”
UPDATE: Sims did not acknowledge in his statement that in the state of Illinois, it is illegal for a 19 year old to possess a handgun, and because the suspect reportedly has already served time in prison for a felony, he could not obtain a FOID card in order to legally purchase a gun. Illinois already has some of the nation's strictest gun laws.
Sims represents he Chatham neighborhoods of Chicago along with the all or parts of Burnham, Calumet City, Lansing, Ford Heights, Lynwood, Sauk Village, Beecher, Manteno and Grant Park.
He served in the Illinois House from 2012 to 2018, before joining the Illinois Senate.
