Charges filed after four shootings on Chicago train

A 30-year-old Chicago man has been charged with murder after four people were shot on a train, authorities said.

The suspect, identified by Forest Park police as Rhanni Davis, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

The victims were apparently all sleeping on a Blue Line train in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park when they were shot shortly before 5:30 a.m. local time (10:30 GMT) on Monday, police said.

According to police, three of the victims were found dead at the scene, the fourth died later in hospital.

Two of the victims were identified by authorities as Simeon Bihesi, 28, and Adrian Collins, 60.

The Cook County Coroner's Office later said one of the other two victims was a 64-year-old woman named Margaret Miller. The fourth victim was identified as a man, but his name has not yet been released.

Forest Park Police Department Deputy Chief Christopher Chin said the shooting appears to have been a “random act of violence” and said the gunman “shot four victims as they were literally sleeping on the train.”

“It wasn't a robbery. It didn't look like he was fighting with anyone,” he said.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Kim Foxx called the shooting “inexplicable” when announcing the charges.

“It's horrific,” she said. “We want answers.”

According to police reports, surveillance footage showed the attacker walking through the train and shooting four passengers who appeared to be sleeping in two different carriages. The four victims were not sitting next to each other.

The suspect is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

The Blue Line train runs 24 hours a day between Forest Park and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority, the second-largest public transportation system in the United States.

Gun violence is widespread in the United States; there are more guns than people.

On Tuesday, police in Louisiana arrested an 11-year-old boy accused of shooting the city's former mayor and his daughter.