Man charged with shooting woman, SWAT officer in Albany Park hostage standoff detained as details revealed in court
The man charged with attempted murder after a woman and a Chicago police SWAT officer were shot in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood on Monday will remain in custody as he awaits trial.
Chicago police said Daniel Aguirre, 42, was charged with felony counts, including attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated assault of a peace officer.
Aguirre appeared in person in detention court Wednesday afternoon. Prosecutors said the incident began shortly after 10 a.m. in an apartment that is part of a multi-family home in the 4600 block of North Springfield Avenue. Prosecutors said Aguirre, his long-term partner and his 14-year-old daughter all live in one apartment in the building, while his partner's mother lives in the first-floor apartment and her sister lives in the basement apartment.
According to prosecutors, Aguirre had lost his job in May and in the wake of that became paranoid. On the day of the shooting Aguirre and his girlfriend got into an argument in which he accused her of cheating on him and poisoning him, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said he grabbed her keys, pushed her onto their couch and pointed a gun at her before hitting her with his fist.
Their daughter tried to intervene and was attacked as well before the two ran into the bedroom, prosecutors said. Aguirre then allegedly pulled them back out and pointed a gun at them both.
When his daughter tried to run out of the apartment, he started punching her, prosecutors said. When his partner tried to help, he tried stomping on his daughter's head.
According to prosecutors, the commotion attracted the attention of his partner's mother, who came upstairs and knocked on the apartment door. When she got no answer, she knocked a second time, and Aguirre opened fire through the door, shooting her in the face, according to prosecutors. He then fired more shots through the door, prosecutors said.
Witnesses were able to flag down police to tell them the grandmother had been shot, prompting a large police response at the home including SWAT team members.
When SWAT officers tried to break down the door to get into the apartment and rescue the women inside, prosecutors said Aguirre opened fire through the door again and struck a SWAT officer in the abdomen.
Prosecutors said Aguirre's partner was able to call the witness who had gotten the police and through her was able to have Aguirre speak to police over the phone. After speaking to officers on the phone, Aguirre let his partner out of the apartment with two visible black eyes, prosecutors said.
He was then taken into custody.
Both the wounded SWAT officer and the woman who had been shot were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. The officer underwent surgery and is expected to recover. The woman, it was revealed in court, was saved by doctors and remains hospitalized where her condition is stable. No further details about her injuries or recovery were disclosed.
Prosecutors said police found two loaded magazines in the home, and recovered 18 shell casings, multiple air rifles and a semi-automatic handgun in the back room as they cleared the apartment. The door had nine bullet holes, and there was a hole in the kitchen as well, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors argued Aguirre posed a danger to the community at large and to any immediate family who he could stay with if released on electronic monitoring, pointing out that he had "terrorized" his own family members and even tried to stomp on his daughter's head. They also argued he had become paranoid relatively recently but in this situation, went "from zero to 100."
Prosecutors said Aguirre did not have an extensive criminal history, but he did have previous arrests in 2008 and 2004, both for battery and both of which were dismissed.
Aguirre's public defender argued that if released on electronic monitoring he would live with his parents, who do not keep guns in their home and with whom he has no history of violence.
The judge called this an "extremely violent offense," in which he exhibited no care for his neighbors, beat his daughter and partner and shot his partner's mother in the face. The judge also said prosecutors had presented evidence that Aguirre consumed eight to 10 Red Bull energy drinks a day and had a padlock on his door.
The judge agreed with prosecutors that Aguirre poses a "real and present threat," and was particularly concerned with what he called "the strangeness starting in May" when Aguirre lost his job. He ordered Aguirre be detained as he awaits trial. He is due back in court on August 12.
