CHICAGO (AP) — A man wanted on murder and armed robbery charges was taken into custody Wednesday after a 15-hour standoff with police at a Chicago restaurant just blocks from the Democratic National Convention, authorities said.
Joshua Zimmerman had been sought by the U.S. Marshals Service since his escape from a Mississippi courthouse in June. He was located Tuesday at the restaurant, according to Justin Smith, chief deputy with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi.
After marshals learned that Zimmerman was in Chicago, an agency task force concluded that he was working at a seafood restaurant.
“During the arrest attempt, Zimmerman retreated into the ceiling and barricaded himself” before a Chicago police SWAT team was called to the scene, the agency said in a statement.
The restaurant is about a half-mile from the United Center, where the political convention is being held. The Marshals Service said there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending.”
Without using Zimmerman’s name, the Chicago Police Department said a person was taken into custody about 7:20 a.m. and that the SWAT action that began about 4 p.m. Tuesday had ended.
The Marshals Service said Zimmerman escaped from the circuit court building in Hernando, Mississippi, where he was being held on attempted murder and armed robbery charges. He was also awaiting extradition to Houston, Texas, where he’s charged with murder, the Marshals Service said.
According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is accused of fatally shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a Houston motel on Sept. 2, 2023.
The two were asked to leave the motel after multiple complaints of fighting, and when staff members checked the room to see if they had left, they found Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Smith said authorities want to bring Zimmerman back to Mississippi and “gather the remaining facts surrounding his escape.”
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The story has been updated to correct the wanted man’s first name to Joshua, from Justin.