Four people have been charged after an attempted robbery of undercover ATF agents in Country Club Hills led to two suspects being shot by officers. Prosecutors say the suspects arrived to confront undercover agents during a firearms-trafficking investigation,
The moment the undercover ATF agents tried to buy firearms on Tuesday in Country Club Hills, the plan broke apart fast—so fast that it ended with gunfire and arrests made at hospitals.
Federal court documents say undercover agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were investigating a firearm-trafficking operation around 5:30 p.m. in the 18800 block of Loretto Lane. The agents had arranged to purchase firearms as part of the operation.
Amir Fagan, 19; Demond Edwards, 18; and a third person arrived in a car, prosecutors said, got out, and pointed firearms at the undercover agents in an attempt to rob them.
When other ATF agents arrived, one fired shots and struck Fagan, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors also said the driver of the suspects’ car, Chashonn Toney, 18, rammed his vehicle into an ATF vehicle while trying to flee.
Edwards ran from the scene. but a Chicago police officer—undercover at the time—chased him and stopped him about two blocks away. according to prosecutors and Chicago’s police oversight agency. Prosecutors say Edwards struck the officer “multiple times” in the face and body, prompting the officer to shoot Edwards.
Both suspects who were shot—Fagan and Edwards—were in critical condition and were taken to hospitals. Their conditions were stabilized, and prosecutors said they were placed under arrest at the hospitals. A law enforcement officer was also taken to a hospital for observation.
Three other people were apprehended at the scene, officials said.
But the federal criminal complaint filed Thursday in federal court named four people: Fagan, Edwards, Toney and Tevin Curlee, 29.
Fagan, of Harvey, and Edwards, of Markham, are both charged with attempted robbery. Toney, of Robbins, is charged with forcibly assaulting a law enforcement officer. Curlee, of Country Club Hills, is charged with unlawfully possessing and transferring a machine gun.
Prosecutors say Curlee is accused of selling a handgun equipped with a machine gun conversion device to undercover officers on June 3 in south suburban Crestwood.
Each defendant’s first appearance in court is pending. The federal investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The timeline in the complaint leaves little room for ambiguity about how quickly the situation turned: an arranged firearm purchase at 5:30 p.m., an abrupt attempt to rob the agents, a vehicle ramming during the escape, and a chase that ended only after Edwards assaulted the officer who stopped him.
For the ATF agents involved, the operation that began as a controlled investigation ended with gunfire and arrests—made not in a courtroom, but in the fluorescent quiet of hospital rooms as conditions stabilized.
Country Club Hills ATF undercover agents attempted robbery Amir Fagan Demond Edwards Chashonn Toney Tevin Curlee firearms trafficking machine gun conversion device