Felon accused of killing Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer is held without bond

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) -- A repeat felon with a decades-long rap sheet was held without bond on Thursday for the murder of Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Shomari Legghette, 44, is also charged with aggravated use of a weapon by a felon and drug possession.

Legghette is accused of shooting Bauer multiple times in a stairwell at about 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Thompson Center.

Legghette shot at the veteran officer seven times and him him six times, Assistant State’s Attorney Guy Lisuzzo said.

Bauer was struck in head, neck, torso, back and wrist.

Legghette’s bond hearing was held in a larger courtroom on the seventh floor of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse to accommodate the standing-room only crowd, which included Police Supt. Eddie Johnson.

As Legghette was brought before a Cook County judge in gray sweat pants and a Bears T-shirt, many uniformed police officers looked on.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bauer, who was wearing his uniform, had attended “active shooter” training in handling mass shootings. He was planning to meet later with aldermen at City Hall to discuss his efforts to quell violence in his Near North District.

Bauer was unable to fire his weapon during a struggle with Legghette in the stairwell, police said.

Bauer had spotted Legghette after he heard police radio traffic from tactical officers who were chasing him through the Loop. Legghette matched the description of a suspect running in a long, fur-lined coat, police said.

The officers wanted to talk to Legghette about a shooting on Lower Wacker Drive on Friday afternoon. Someone in a car had fired at a car traveling in the opposite direction, but no one was hit.

Police said they don’t know whether Legghette was involved in that incident but wanted to see if he knew anything about it.

Legghette had evaded the pursuing officers when Bauer spotted him on the street running south on Clark toward the Thompson Center and City Hall, police said.

Bauer, 53, lived with his wife and 13-year-old daughter in the Bridgeport neighborhood. He was the distant cousin of Officer Martin Darcy Jr., who was fatally shot in the line of duty in 1982, authorities confirmed.

Bauer’s killing was the first time an officer has been shot to death in the line of duty since 2011.

Bauer is remembered for his efforts to reach out to residents of his district to hear their concerns about crime. He was outspoken in his views that the criminal justice system isn’t doing enough to lock up repeat offenders.

Not a lot is known about Legghette’s background, except for his criminal record.

News stories say he played high-school basketball for Dunbar Vocational, with 23 points and eight rebounds attributed to him in one game in 1991.

But people who know Legghette say he didn’t stay on the basketball team through his senior year and was basically in trouble since then.