Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Long before he opened fire at Mercy Hospital, Juan Lopez had a documented history of abusive behavior that he sometimes backed up with a gun.
While a trainee at the Chicago Fire Department Academy nearly five years ago, Lopez faced dismissal after being accused of aggressive and improper conduct toward women, according to the department. At some point, Lopez stopped showing up at the academy and was fired for abandoning his duties. He was never assigned to a firehouse as a firefighter or paramedic. It was during the disciplinary process that Lopez made the remarks about shooting up the academy. But they were never documented in internal records.
“If I get fired, I’m going to shoot this f—— place up,” he said, according to a firefighter who heard him. Department sources said they were aware of his remarks, but nothing was placed in his file.
It was during the disciplinary process that Lopez made the remarks about shooting up the academy. But they were never documented in internal records.
Later in the year, Lopez’s wife went to court for an order of protection, contending he had chased after a neighbor with a gun and had threatened to come to her workplace and “cause a scene,” according to court records. The order was soon terminated and no charges were filed against Lopez. A police spokesman said the incident was not reported to police.
In fact, Lopez had no criminal record when he walked across the parking lot of Mercy Hospital & Medical Center on Monday afternoon and confronted his former fiancee, Dr. Tamara O’Neal, who worked in the emergency room.
He wanted his engagement ring back and they began to argue. O’Neal called 911 and Lopez pulled out a gun and fired. She fell and he stood over her and fired again. He then shot Chicago police Officer Samuel Jimenez as he arrived on the scene and pharmacist Dayna Less as she exited an elevator before turning the gun on himself. All four died.
O’Neal’s family said she had called off the engagement just weeks before.
Lopez also had a volatile relationship with his former wife. In seeking an emergency protection order back in 2014, she described behavior by Lopez that caused her much anxiety and fear. A judge issued the protection order, but it was terminated about two weeks later. The couple divorced in 2015 after about seven years of marriage. In the divorce papers, the former wife accused Lopez of constant infidelity and abuse.
Lopez maintained a job as a security guard in at least three different locations, including two hospitals. From 2008 to 2013, he was employed as an unarmed security officer at DePaul University. He also worked as a guard at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in south suburban Harvey and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He was licensed by the state to work as a security guard in the mid-2000s, but his permanent employee registration card lapsed in 2009 and was not renewed. According to state records, he was never licensed by the state to carry a firearm while working security.
Most recently, Lopez worked for the Chicago Housing Authority, where he was hired in February 2018 as an associate program specialist. The CHA said in a statement he was hired “after undergoing the usual background checks. There is no history of complaints about him during the course of his employment at CHA.”
Lopez held a valid firearm owner’s identification card and a concealed carry license. He had bought at least four guns in the past five years. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched his Northwest Side home after the shooting and began tracing his weapons.
