4 people fatally shot on Chicago-area train, police say

FOREST PARK, Ill. (AP) — A shooting on a commuter train outside Chicago on Labor Day morning left four people dead, police said.

Three people were pronounced dead at the Forest Park station, an above-ground stop on the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line. The fourth victim died at a hospital.

The suspect got away but was subsequently arrested on a train on a different route, Forest Park police said.

“A weapon was recovered,” Forest Park Deputy Chief Chris Chin told reporters. "There is no immediate threat. This appears to be an isolated incident on this unfortunate day.”

Police were called around 5:30 a.m. Chin said he had no immediate information to disclose about the victims. He called the shooting “shocking” and “horrible.”

"This heinous and egregious act of violence should never have occurred, nonetheless on a public transit train," the Chicago Transit Authority, known as CTA, said.

CTA said security camera video “proved to be vital” in helping investigators.

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins said his community, population 14,000, is the only Chicago suburb in Cook County where two major train lines end.

“It's a horrible tragedy that four people are dead on Labor Day weekend," Hoskins said. "Our police department and our fire department respond to this location probably more than any other location in our jurisdiction.”

A regular rider, Sean McNulty, had to take a bus Monday because of service interruptions related to the shooting. He said criminal activity sometimes is a reality on the train.

“You just kind of get used to it,” McNulty told the Chicago Tribune. "I keep my eyes open because I want to know what’s going on around me at all times.”

Yellow tape blocks off the parking lot of the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Yellow tape blocks off the parking lot of the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Yellow tape blocks off the parking lot of the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Commuters wait for a bus outside the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., which remains closed, after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Squad cars of Elmwood Park police, Berwyn police and Cicero police are parked in the parking lot of the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Yellow tape blocks off the parking lot of the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Commuters wait for a bus outside the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., which remains closed, after four people were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Forest Park Deputy Chief Christopher Chin, right, stands outside the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., after giving a news conference about four people who were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins stands outside the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., which remains closed, after giving a news conference about four people who were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins stands outside the Forest Park Blue Line train station in Forest Park, Ill., which remains closed, after giving a news conference about four people who were fatally shot on the train early Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Police vehicles are parked outside the CTA Forest Park station, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Forest Park, Ill. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Police investigators work inside a CTA Blue Line train parked at the Forest Park station after a shooting, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Forest Park, Ill. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Forest Park police Deputy Chief Christopher Chin gives a news briefing outside the CTA Forest Park station, after a shooting, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Forest Park, Ill. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune via AP)

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — England and English soccer teams could be removed from UEFA competitions if a new regulator is considered to be “Government interference” in the sport.

In a letter sent by UEFA to the U.K.'s new culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, European soccer's governing body raised concerns about a proposed independent football regulator (IFR) in English soccer. The regulatory will ensure the financial sustainability of clubs and stop teams from joining breakaway competitions like the European Super League.

UEFA regulations state there should be no government interference in the running of soccer.

“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from UEFA and teams from competition,” UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis wrote in his letter, which has been seen by The Associated Press.

England, which has been runner-up in the last two European Championships, is co-hosting the 2028 edition of the tournament.

If UEFA imposed its ultimate sanction of excluding the English Football Association, the England team would be barred from competing in the Euros. It could also mean Premier League clubs being barred from the Champions League and other competitions.

The U.K. government’s Football Governance Bill would give an independent regulator powersto safeguard the future of clubs. It includes strengthened tests over who can run or own clubs.

In its letter, UEFA said “normally football regulation should be managed by the national federation.”

It said it was concerned by what it described as “scope creep” by a regulator into areas beyond “the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.”

UEFA said if all countries established regulators with wide-reaching powers it would hinder its ability to maintain effective governance across Europe. It wants England's regulator to be “strictly limited” to the long-term financial sustainability of clubs and heritage assets.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - The UEFA Euro trophy is pictured after Britain and Ireland were elected to host the Euro 2028 football tournament during the the UEFA EURO 2028 and 2032 hosts announcement ceremony after the UEFA Executive Committee, at UEFA Headquarters, in Nyon, Switzerland, Oct. 10, 2023. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP, File)