CTA president defends safety after mass shooting on Blue Line: ‘very isolated incident’

CHICAGO – CTA President Dorval Carter assured passengers on Tuesday that Chicago's transit system remains safe despite the recent mass shooting on the Blue Line that left four people dead.

At a rare press conference, Carter condemned the attack but stressed that it was an isolated incident.

“This is a very isolated incident. I can tell you that in my entire career at the CTA, I have never seen anything like a mass shooting,” Carter said, seeking to allay concerns about safety at the CTA, which has allocated $65.2 million for security measures this year alone.

Carter acknowledged that preventing all crime in such a vast system would be a challenge given the CTA's extensive network.

“You're talking about a system with 145 stations, 1,500 rail cars, 1,800 buses, almost 380 kilometers of track and over 2,400 kilometers of bus routes,” he said. “That's huge and we're obviously focused on how to manage that as best as we can.”

The CTA has installed over 30,000 surveillance cameras in every station and train car, and 300 security guards patrol the system. In addition, a Chicago police unit is tasked with monitoring trains and buses around the clock.

The CTA also recently began testing a new AI technology called Zero Eyes, which uses 250 cameras to supposedly detect firearms at train stations. However, Carter confirmed that the technology was not in use on the section of the Blue Line where the shooting occurred.

“As you know, this technology has only been introduced in the last few weeks,” he said. “In this particular case, it was not a factor.”

Carter revealed that the four victims were sleeping on the train at the time of the shooting.

Alderman Andre Vasquez (40th Ward), who had previously called for Carter's resignation on the grounds of reliability and transparency, expressed concern about the presence of homeless people seeking shelter on CTA trains, saying the shooting shows their vulnerability.

“The inability of CTA leadership to address the problem of homelessness on the trains is something that needs to be investigated,” Vasquez said.

Carter noted in his response that the CTA has increased its efforts to assist homeless people on public transit.

“We have allocated more resources to support the homeless in the CTA than ever before in the history of our agency,” Carter said, citing partnerships with social services agencies that work with the homeless population in the CTA.

However, Carter stressed that solving the homelessness problem requires more resources and support than one transit agency can provide.