CTA Shooting Suspect Turns Himself In

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Oct 9, 2008 2:50PM

Answering pleas from his mother, Milton Wardlaw (pictured right) turned himself in and declared his innocence in Sunday's shooting death of 17-year-old Kiyanna Salters aboard a CTA bus. Wardlaw joined his family at Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church and was later escorted away by police. While police did not confirm that Wardlaw was the man on the surveillance tape, they did say they had a suspect in custody. Not to mention Wardlaw's own words:

We had an argument, dude pulled a gun on me and he basically escorted me off the bus with the gun. This should also be on camera. He escorted me off the bus with the gun. I'm like, 'Man, just don't shoot me in the back, please don't shoot me.' He cussed at me, like 'M-F'er, run' so I took off. I was running. I heard shots and I kept on running."

He later added, ""I don't have any gun to fire. I'm innocent." Wardlaw is currently on probation for previous drug and weapons convictions. While police say eyewitness testimony as well as the surveillance footage points to Wardlaw as the shooter, Wardlaw and his family did have a valid point when they asked about the police's pursuit of the other man involved in the incident. Sonja Wilcox, Kiyanna's aunt and mother of the girl who was with Kiyanna on the bus when the incident occurred, said, "The evidence will show who's telling the truth and who's lying. I'm just glad he turned himself in. And now we can go on and do what we have to do to bury Kiyanna."

Photo of Wardlaw taken from CBS 2 Video