Boy, 16, charged with murder in shooting of retired CPD bomb technician

A 16-year-old boy has turned himself in and been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of retired Chicago police officer Larry Neuman, police said Monday.

Authorities said they were still searching for a second suspect in Neuman's killing Thursday morning near his Garfield Park home. The boy, whose name was not released Monday, was charged with first-degree murder as an adult and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, Chicago police said.

Police Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti said Neuman, 73, was outside his home to pay someone to cut the grass when he saw two people approaching. Neuman pushed the other person out of the way and exchanged gunfire with the two suspects, who shot him several times.

Ursitti said the department received “an abundant amount of information” from neighbors and former residents in the area and said a community member accompanied the teen when he rendered. She did not provide details on the relationship between the suspect and the community member.

During the investigation, a detective recognized the suspect from a previous arrest, Ursitti added.

Police Commissioner Larry Snelling called Neuman's killing a “brazen and senseless act of violence” and said Neuman “would have done anything he could” to help a teenager who was at risk of being involved in a crime violent.

“Larry’s life was taken by the very people he dedicated his life to helping,” he said.

Neuman served in the U.S. Marines, retired as the police department's longest-serving explosives technician and spoke out against violent crime as a pastor after leaving the department, Snelling said.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx noted that Monday's news conference was the second in a week to see criminal charges announced against a juvenile. Authorities on Friday charged Raysean Comer, 16, with murder in the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jai'Mani Amir Rivera. Comer appeared for a court detention hearing on Saturday and will be tried as an adult.

Foxx said that although Neuman was a retiree and the other victim was a young boy, “the common thread is that other kids kill themselves.”

Snelling called for “an accountability factor” and implored Chicagoans to intervene with children who begin getting involved in illegal activities.

“Today’s armed robber, aged 13 or 14, is tomorrow’s murderer, aged 15 or 16,” he said. “If we do not intervene now, we will announce murder charges for a 16-year-old.”

Snelling also said he attended a memorial event for Neuman on Sunday and saw how well Neuman won in the Garfield Park area.

“He was a hero in this community,” he said. “He was loved in this community. He was a person to be proud of.