At roughly 7:50 a.m. the morning of March 4, a 33-year-old man boarded South Shore Line westbound Train 114 in Hammond, Ind. When asked to pay for his ticket by the collector, the man refused and began to get extremely agitated. The collector quickly worked to de-escalate the situation and called the conductor for help. The offender became aggressive despite multiple attempts by the collector and conductor to calm him down. 

In accordance with his training, and to protect passengers and crew, the conductor requested police backup to resolve the situation. A Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District Transit Police Officer was in close proximity at the time and met the train at the Hegewisch Station in Chicago around 8:06 a.m. The officer attempted to peacefully resolve the situation but was unsuccessful. The offender became aggressive, attacking the officer and putting the officer’s health and safety, as well as the health and safety of others, in grave jeopardy. After a struggle with the offender, the officer was forced to discharge his weapon. Both the officer and the offender were injured and were transported to different hospitals. At this time, the NICTD Transit Officer has been treated for his injuries and has been released. The offender remains hospitalized and no further information on his condition is known at this time. 

“We commend the actions of our crew and our police officer in the handling of an extremely disruptive individual on one of our trains today. Passenger safety is NICTD’s top priority, and our crew and police officer sought to safely and peacefully resolve a very difficult situation in accordance with their training,” said Mike Noland, President of the South Shore Line. 

“All of our police officers are trained to de-escalate tense situations and avoid confrontation. This offender thwarted the officer’s efforts to resolve this situation peacefully and attacked our officer, putting his life and the lives of others at risk. This is the first time something like this has ever happened on the South Shore Line. Because of the heroic actions of our officer, this situation ended without tragedy,” Noland said.