Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed criminal charges against a man accused of firing a gun early Tuesday morning at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago. Edmund J. Horvath, 36, of Lynwood, is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, having previously been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, and was due to appear before a federal magistrate judge on Wednesday afternoon.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times reporting via WFB News
No one was hit in the shooting near the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building, according to Chicago police. A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives laid out the allegations against Horvath in an affidavit accompanying the charges. The Department of Homeland Security had earlier confirmed no one was injured and that federal property sustained only minor damage, while investigators recovered a firearm at the scene.
Source: Chicago Police / DHS, via Business News Today
According to the affidavit, security footage recorded Horvath riding a bicycle down a garage ramp at the Kluczynski building shortly after 4 a.m. A security officer approached through the window of a secured garage door to get him to leave, and then allegedly heard shots and saw flashes. Police found Horvath alone inside the interior garage entrance with the bicycle, and nearby officers saw multiple shell casings and a 9mm pistol.
After being taken into custody, Horvath allegedly admitted to possessing and firing the gun and said he opened fire because people were 'chasing him,' officials said. Those statements are allegations in the affidavit, not findings by a court. The gunshots caused interior and exterior damage to the Kluczynski Building and nearby infrastructure, officials said.
Court records cited in the reporting show Horvath pleaded guilty in state court in 2024 to domestic battery. The federal charge is based on that prior misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction, which prosecutors say barred him from possessing a firearm. The case is pending; Horvath has not been convicted of the new charge.