A man has been charged with attempted murder in a shooting where 50 shots were fired, leaving a victim with multiple gunshot wounds at a Waukegan shopping complex in February.
Kenyatta L. Triplett, 23, of Gurnee, was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery by discharging a firearm.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Jeffrey Facklam said during a bond hearing that an SUV had been stolen on February 13 from Mundelein.
When the SUV was stolen, it fled from Mundelein police but officers were able to stop a sedan, which was driven by Triplett.
The sedan had been reported as suspicious and had been in the area when the SUV was stolen.
Triplett was unable to give an explanation of what he was doing in the area, Facklam said. He was released from the scene.
Days later, on February 17, the Waukegan Police Department and Waukegan Fire Department were called around 5:40 p.m. to the 1400 block of Golf Road for a shooting.
Then-Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Brian Mullen said the shooting occurred in the parking lot of the strip mall, which is on the corner of Golf Road and Butrick Street.
Officers located one victim, a man in his 20s from North Chicago, with gunshot wounds, Mullen said.
The stolen SUV out of Mundelein was identified as the suspect vehicle in the shooting.
Facklam said four suspects got out of it and fired 50 rounds at the victim.
The victim survived and was released from the hospital following treatment.
Investigators learned the victim had been in a barbershop in the strip mall.
A juvenile accomplice who was inside the barbershop at the same time as the victim texted multiple people, including Triplett, about the victim’s location.
Triplett responded by saying that “we are coming” and telling the accomplice to keep the victim there.
The accomplice inside the barbershop texted the group letting them know the victim was going outside. Moments later, the victim was shot by the gunmen.
A residential surveillance video shared with Lake and McHenry County Scanner captured audio of the shooting.
Dozens of rounds could be heard during the shooting, which lasted around 30 seconds.
Cellphone data showed Triplett was in Mundelein when the suspect vehicle was stolen and also traveled to the shooting location in Waukegan when the victim was shot, Facklam said.
Triplett was charged in the case in late April, court records show.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered Triplett held on a $1 million bond.
Triplett faces 26-50 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the charges if convicted.
He remains held in the Lake County Jail and would need to post $100,000 cash in order to be released.