3 denied bail in deadly Chicago store shooting

Three Chicago men charged with murder after a shootout at a South Side store were denied bail Saturday.

Eric O’Neal and Devon Walker, both 18, and Alfred Spikes, 20, are each charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm. They appeared in bond court Saturday morning.

The shooting happened Tuesday night at The Connect, a store near the Altgeld Gardens housing complex that sells cellphones, groceries and items sold at dollar stores.

The Chicago Tribune reported the men entered the store around 9:30 p.m. and began shooting with an AK-47 assault rifle and two 9 mm handguns. Someone in the store — police believe a security guard — returned fire and one of the suspects, Alex Spikes, 17, was wounded.

The gunmen later returned to the store to retrieve Alex Spikes’ body and opened fire again, the newspaper reported. They drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Prosecutors said the suspects were arrested in the hospital parking lot.

Police charged the men after reviewing video footage inside the store.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the others killed as Ihab Arafeh, 45, Michael Banks, 30, and Weam Salem, 25. Arafeh was delivering cellphones at the time. Police believe Banks, a security guard, was the one who fired back. Salem worked at the store.

The relationship between Alex and Alfred Spikes is not clear. Records show they lived at the same address. Police visited the address and found weapons used in the shooting.

Officials said one of the wounded, a 39-year-old female customer, was in critical condition Saturday. The identity of the second wounded person is not clear.

It was not clear Saturday if the suspects have attorneys. A message left for the state’s attorney’s office in Cook County was not immediately returned.