Retired Wis. federal law enforcement officer charged in shooting of Amtrak conductor

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- A retired federal law enforcement officer has been charged with shooting an Amtrak train conductor in Naperville on Tuesday.

Edward Klein, 79, of West Allis, Wis. appeared via video in a DuPage County courtroom Friday. Klein was charged with discharge of a firearm causing great bodily harm and attempted murder.

Prosecutors said Klein stuck his arm out of a train door window and shot Michael Case with a revolver when the Chicago-bound train from Kansas City was stopped at the Naperville platform on Tuesday. The two did not know each other.

Prosecutors said Klein tried to get off the train through the same window when train personnel and passengers stopped him. It is unclear if the conductor will survive, prosecutors said.

Bond has been set for Klein at $1.5 million. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 12.

Sara Case, the victim's wife, said her husband was taken to Edward Hospital for treatment, where he had to be resuscitated. He suffered multiple intra-abdominal organ injuries, and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition.

His family is struggling to understand what happened to him.

"It's real. And I don't want it to be real. I don't wish this on anyone," Sara Case said.

She is clinging to his last words to her on the phone, moments before surgery.

"He just said to me, 'I love you. I love you. I love you.' And that's the last I actually have heard his voice or been able to talk to him," she said.

Prosecutors said Klein was taking a train to Las Vegas to visit a friend, but changed his mind about the trip and told a conductor. He was aboard an Amtrak train that left Kansas City Tuesday, where he caused a disturbance, according to prosecutors. The train departed at 9 a.m. and headed to Chicago.

The train pulled up at the Naperville station at 4:45 p.m. where, prosecutors said, Klein wanted to get off. He became enraged and belligerent, prosecutors said. But arrangements had been made to help Klein return to Milwaukee from Chicago, so Case, the conductor, closed the train doors. That's when Klein allegedly pointed a gun through the train's window and shot Case, who was standing on the platform.

Prosecutors also said they found a large number of newspaper clippings about police-involved shootings in Klein's apartment.

Klein lived at an independent senior living facility in Wisconsin. Prosecutors said he had been unhappy with this living arrangements. The director of VMP Manor Park couldn't address that because of patient privacy laws, but did comment on Klein.

"He's been a resident here for about a year and a half. He's one of 270 independent living residents that reside here on our campus," said Sean Callahan, VMP Manor Park spokesman.

Prosecutors said before retirement Klein worked for the Federal Protective Service, a government agency that provides security at federal building. Although he allegedly had a gun, prosecutors said his concealed carry license had been revoked.

"It's a shame. We've been in the senior healthcare business for more than 90 years and this is the first time we've ever had anything like this happen, and we obviously feel remorse for the family and hope he's going to be okay," Callahan said.

"It really doesn't make sense yet, but hopefully it will all come to a close pretty soon and he'll get better," said Brian McGuffin, friend of Michael Case.

ABC7 spoke with a witness who expressed concerned that Amtrak employees seemed unprepared to deal with an emergency situation like this. An Amtrak spokesperson responded, saying, "This was traumatic for everyone involved. We'll look at lessons learned from the incident."

The witness said it was a scary situation and railroad employees did nothing to protect her or make her feel safer.

"As people were coming into the station, I directed them. They were kind of looking at me strangely because, who is this person who is telling me to go to the bathroom, there's been a shooting," she said.