The Chicago Police Department is getting closer — kind of — to making an arrest in the Jussie Smollett attack case.
The Empire star, as you’ll remember, was apparently attacked last month on a Chicago street in the middle of the night, allegedly by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him, put a rope around his neck, and poured an unknown chemical substance on him.
Now, Chicago police confirm that they’ve tracked down people who at the very least may have been witnesses on the night in question.
Related: Jussie Gives First Televised Interview Since Attack
Thursday morning, a communications officer for the Chicago PD offered up new information about how detectives have tracked down a couple “persons of interest” who may be related to the case (below):
Important for media reporting: The people of interest are alleged to be in the area where a crime was reported. They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives. We remain in communication with the alleged victim. pic.twitter.com/JuH1kYRTYV
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 14, 2019
But as those tweets are quick to note, “persons of interest” does NOT mean suspects… and the people in question here may be witnesses considering they were in the area at the time of the attack, or they may not be involved at all.
Regardless, a police department spokesperson told E! News on Thursday “charges are pending” in the case, and the two persons of interest are currently being questioned.
Whether suspects or not, this is at least something of a development considering there had been no movement on this front for several weeks, after detectives struggled to find security camera footage or other witnesses that could help their case.
In the meantime, Smollett has attempted to get back to his life as best he can, though things are clearly very difficult for him after the apparently racially-motivated violent attack.
Ugh.
So, so scary — and the uncertain aftermath with a difficult investigation still going certainly can’t help matters.
[Image via WENN.]
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