The suspect charged in Saturday’s shooting at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital in Chicago has a lengthy criminal record, NBC 5 investigates has learned, leading officials to question Illinois’ SAFE-T Act and why the 26-year-old suspect was released from custody multiple times.
Alphonso Talley, of Chicago, made his first court appearance Monday. He faces more than 20 felonies in connection with Saturday’s shooting, which left Chicago police officer John Bartholomew dead and another in critical condition.
“Officer Bartholomew would be alive today if this massively repeat offender of violent crime after violent crime were behind bars where he belonged,” Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza who is weighing a run for Chicago Mayor, said. “No reasonable person breathing should think it’s okay to put an armed robber, carjacker on an electronic monitor and send them on their merry way.”
Suspect’s criminal history
According to court documents obtained by NBC Chicago, Talley was convicted in 2018 of three separate armed robberies. He received mandatory supervised release in 2019, but two years later, he was arrested for possession of a firearm. This conviction sent Talley back to prison for three years, according to court records.
In 2022, he once again was placed on mandatory supervised release. While on release, he was charged with stealing a car, court records showed, and sentenced to four years in prison.
After serving two years, Talley in 2025 was once again out on mandatory supervised release.
In May of 2025, Talley was charged with armed robbery and carjacking in two separate cases. Talley did not show up in for his court date in March, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, NBC 5 Investigates found.
Saturday morning, police said Talley pistol-whipped a clerk at a Dollar Store in an armed robbery and stole an unspecified amount of cash.
Police were able to track Talley’s locations thanks to a GPS device hidden within the money, officials said. When he was arrested, prosecutors said he complained of a medical problem, and was transported to Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital.
While there, officers uncuffed Talley for a medical exam. That’s when he allegedly pulled out a gun concealed in a blanket and fatally shot Bartholomew, while critically wounding another officer.
Federal charges were filed in the case, with Talley’s girlfriend accused of a straw purchase in 2024 to obtain the gun for him, according to prosecutors.
Chicago Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st Ward, called the SAFE-T Act “a failed system” in remarks on the shooting Monday.
“It’s a failed system,” he said. “It’s an absolutely failed system.”
A statement from Endeavor Health said Talley was brought in for treatment about 9 a.m. Saturday and was scanned for weapons upon arrival. He was “escorted by law enforcement at all times” while inside before escaping.
After Talley escaped, a manhunt ensued, with authorities swarming the hospital and nearby area as local officials asked residents to shelter in place.
Neighbors described the chaotic scene, with some catching glimpses of the suspect hiding and running through their neighborhood.
“My neighbors had called me [and told me] something was going on, so I looked on the camera and then I just seen all the police,” one neighbor said. The neighbor said the suspect, who was naked, made his way through a gangway. “Crouching, still naked. It was creepy. It was weird. Naked guy crouching down in that gangway.”
About 12 p.m., the suspect was taken into custody.
According to officials, Talley was ordered detained until his next court hearing.
