Hotel housekeeper may have prevented a July 4th Mass Shooting in Chicago

quote:

---

An alert member of the cleaning staff at a prominent lakefront Chicago hotel may have prevented a mass shooting on the Fourth of July.

---

quote:

---

Last Sunday, an employee of the W Chicago - Lake Shore hotel reported to police seeing a semi-automatic rifle with a high-powered scope and laser left “in a very suspicious position” in a 12th-floor guest room overlooking Ohio Street Beach, which was crowded with spectators who had come to watch the Independence Day fireworks at nearby Navy Pier.

---

quote:

---

Chicago Police recovered the rifle with a live round in the chamber, a handgun and several loaded rifle magazines on the window sill of Room 1208.

---

quote:

---

Superintendent Brown noted that Casteel did not have a prior criminal record and that police have not yet determined the Iowa man’s intentions. But both Brown and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed concern that Casteel’s motives were nefarious.

---

quote:

---

Keegan Casteel, 32, of Ankeny, Iowa, now faces two felony counts of weapons charges. At a hearing yesterday, Casteel’s lawyer said his client is married with two children and works as an auto mechanic in Des Moines.

---

quote:

---

If Casteel posts bail, he will be allowed to go back to his home in Iowa while he awaits trial. “Unfortunately, because he was charged with mere possession illegally here in our city, the charges weren’t of the type that he could have been held,” said Lightfoot, adding, “He’s now on the radar screen of the FBI, and we have to make sure that this individual is somebody who is known to law enforcement not only here in Chicago, but back in Iowa where he came from.”

---