55-year-old Chicago life guard, Charles Leto has been charged with murder and attempted murder of two Black teenage boys after he open fired near a swimming pool. The white man has been charged with “first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with a fatal shooting at Douglass Park on June 26” as reported by Atlanta Black Star.
As mentioned in Chicago Sun-Times, 15 years old Marjay Dotson and his 14 years old friend Jeremy Herred were among a bunch of teenagers who were standing near Leto as he was fixing his bike. However, when he was approached by a couple of boys, he suddenly took out his gun and fired.
According to Leto’s defense attorney, he had acted out of self defense as the teenagers apparently threatened him and said that they would steal their bike. In the words of Leo himself, “Those two kids attacked me and followed me. … I defended myself, I have a license.”
Attorney Jeff Neslund mentioned, “The shooter’s backpack was attached to his bike somehow, and he took the backpack off his bike, turned the bike upside down, pulled out the handgun, and then everybody who was in the area just started to turn and run.”
Surveillance video that has been obtained by WGN-TV, captured the moments leading to Leto reaching for his gun and shooting. As per witnesses, Doston was nearest to Leto when the man started to shoot and he shot him in the back. After that he turned to Herred and shot him in his neck.
The boys were rushed to the hospital where Doston was pronounced dead. Herred had to undergo surgery and, as per reports, he is still in a critical condition. It is important to note here that Herred is the cousin of 17 years old Laquan McDonald who was fatally shot 16 times by former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014.
Given the nature of this shooting, the victims’ families have now called for prosecutors to consider hate crime charges since Leo is white and both the victims are Black. Talking about the same, Neslund said, “To claim self-defense is absurd when people are running away from you, they’re unarmed, they’re teenagers. So, again, it just boggles my mind.”
🇺🇸 #Chicago. A lifeguard (#CharlesLeto) shooting two teenagers near the Douglass Park swimming pool on Thursday evening.
A 15-year-old died, and a 14-year-old was badly injured.
Leto told police the boys “attacked” him as he worked on his bicycle, and claimed to hold a… pic.twitter.com/m2VKWkYKJQ
— Ian Collins (@Ian_Collins_03) June 30, 2025
Family of the victims have also wanted to know why Leo would commit such a violent act as Rev. Marvin Hunter, a relative of Herred and Laquan McDonald said, “It’s all at the hands of this one individual who chose to bring a weapon to work at a place where he has made a pledge and a vow to save lives” as reported by CBS News. He further added, “At least we now know that this person that has done this thing will not just go free.’
Chicago Park District had hired Leo back in 2023 as a seasonal lifeguard. However, he was placed on an unpaid and emergency suspension, as mentioned in reports. Moreover, despite the fact that he had a concealed-carry license, bringing his gun to his workplace had violated the park’s policy.
View this post on Instagram
It is important to note here that Leo has a history of violence as in 2023 he had shot a woman’s two dogs and killed one of them. Back then also he had cited self defense reasons and was let go. It now remains to be seen what happens to him in this case as one boy has died and another one is critically wounded.
