Man charged with murder in fatal shooting of 2 workers at Chicago’s Navy Pier

By The Associated Press

A patrol car sits outside the Navy Pier as police investigate the scene of a shooting on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of two workers at the city’s popular Navy Pier tourist attraction, authorities said Saturday.

Raylon East, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of felon in possession/use of a weapon in Tuesday’s shootings, Chicago police said.

East was scheduled to appear Saturday for a detention hearing. The Chicago Police Department’s communications office said it does not have information about the defendant’s attorneys. Cook County criminal court records are not online. There was no immediate response to an email sent to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on Saturday asking whether it can provide the name of East’s attorney.

East was arrested Thursday after police released surveillance camera images of the suspect gaining access to an office space near a Navy Pier loading dock just before Tuesday’s shootings, media outlets reported. Police said East had been fired Oct. 14 from his job at the pier, which features shops, restaurants, entertainment and its iconic Ferris wheel along Lake Michigan.

The assailant shot Lamont Johnson, 51, and Peter Jennings, 47, before fleeing, police said. The victims were pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police said East fled the scene and used public transportation to get away.