When threatened by a prostitute for not producing the cash during an agreed upon sex transaction, her 88-year-old customer grabbed a handgun from beneath his pillow and shot her in the leg, Cook County prosecutors alleged during a bond hearing Thursday.
“You’ll see what happens,” the 22-year-old prostitute told the senior citizen on Tuesday afternoon, warning him to show her $20 as the two became intimate or face consequences, according to a prosecutor.
Gene Sanderlin allegedly responded: “No, you will see what happens” before grabbing a revolver from under a pillow on his bed.
He then shot the woman in the left leg, prosecutors said. The bullet went through her left thigh and became lodged in her right thigh.
The woman fled Sanderlin’s home, in the 10400 block of South King Drive, and sought help from a neighbor, prosecutors said.
She was taken to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, court records show.
The shooting, which led to a six-hour barricade situation, took place after the prostitute had approached Sanderlin as he exited a grocery store, prosecutors said.
A police SWAT team was called to the scene after responding officers were unable to communicate with Sanderlin following the shooting, prosecutors said.
Police had closed down the surrounding area before Sanderlin emerged and was taken into custody.
The elderly man was not in court on Thursday.
He was at St. Bernard Hospital being treated for a neurological disorder, according to a Chicago Police officer who appeared in court.
Sanderlin, who did not possess a valid Firearm Owners Identification card, was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Noting Sanderlin’s lack of criminal history and his mental state, Judge John Lyke set his bail at $30,000.