Feds trumpet Chicago mass shooting arrests; but suspects haven’t been charged in shooting

CHICAGO (WGN) — The press release’s headline was clear: “ICE Chicago captures shooters in December 2024 mass shooting tied to Tren de Aragua gang.”  

It gathered local and national media coverage. However, WGN Investigates has found no record the two men named by Homeland Security have actually been charged in the shooting. Instead, they’re currently being detained by federal authorities on immigration charges.

It’s possible Chicago police issued an alert to other law enforcement about their interest in Venezuelan nationals Ricardo Granadillo Padilla and Edward Martinez Carmeno. A source confirmed both are considered “persons of interest” in the mass shooting.   

A CPD spokesperson declined to comment but confirmed neither man has been charged locally and police consider the case open.  

Typically, law enforcement agencies don’t publicly accuse people of committing crimes before they’re actually charged with the offense.  A Homeland Security spokesperson wouldn’t provide comment beyond saying “it’s ongoing.”

Three people were killed – and a total of 8 were shot – at a house in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood where police had also responded to previous disturbances.   

“I believe they’re Venezuelan and maybe they’ve been here for a year,” one nearby resident told WGN News after the shooting.

The May 20^th press release from ICE announced “the arrests of the shooters involved in the Dec. 2, 2024 mass shooting at a house party in Chicago predominantly attended by Venezuelan nationals.”  It went on to say the shooting was “perpetrated by members of the Tren de Aragua gang.”

ICE published post-arrest photos of Padilla and Carmeno on its website along with an image of nine high powered weapons, ammunition and drugs agents say were recovered. The press release also included a blurred image of nearly a dozen other people sitting on a curb in Raleigh, NC who ICE labeled as “suspected TdA members encountered during Padilla’s arrest.”

Padilla was arrested on February 8 by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and was sentenced in March for illegally entering the United States in 2022.  ICE said multiple firearms, high-capacity magazines, drugs and fraudulent documents were found during a raid of his Chicago home before his arrest in North Carolina.

Cermeno was arrested on January 26 by ICE in Schaumburg and then released by a federal magistrate judge before agents re-arrested him on criminal charges for illegally entering the United States in 2023, according to the press release.

While state and local laws prohibit Chicago police from participating in immigration enforcement they do partner with federal agencies on criminal cases and CPD routinely works with federal task force partners to locate people they view as suspects.

Two sources say local authorities were surprised Homeland Security would trumpet the arrests of the men before charges are ready to be filed.  

It’s symbolic of a strategy by the Trump Administration to promote high-profile arrests on social media and among friendly news outlets while refusing to provide information that was routinely released in the past.  

Homeland Security is now being sued by several groups for allegedly violating federal transparency laws by refusing to release basic information about their arrest and deportation efforts in Chicago and elsewhere, Block Club Chicago reports. 

ICE has not responded to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by WGN Investigates in March seeking information about the number of people arrested in Chicago, whether they were deported and how many had criminal backgrounds.