Authorities said that a man was killed when an Amtrak officer shot him at Chicago's Union Station.
According to Amtrak spokesperson Olivia Irvin, the shooting occurred shortly after 5:05 p.m. after Amtrak Police Department received notification that a person with multiple California warrants, including one murder, was on board a train at Union Station.
Amtrak officers confronted the man on the platform. He injured an Amtrak employee and opened fire on officers.
Irvin stated that one officer fired back, hitting the man. Larry Langford, a Fire Department spokesperson, said that paramedics treated him at Union Station on the platform between tracks 28-30, before taking him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for traumatic arrest.
Tuesday night, the Cook County medical examiners confirmed that the man had died. As of Wednesday afternoon, his identity was still unknown. He is still waiting to be notified of his next-of-kin.
Three more people were taken to hospital, including an Amtrak employee who was injured by the man running and an Amtrak officer who responded. Langford and Irvin said that they took Langford and Langford for examination. Chicago police reported that one person suffered from lacerations to his face and was in good health.
Langford stated that none of the three victims were treated for gunshot wounds.
Irvin stated that trains were stopped in Chicago for around 30 minutes.
Jerry Bobbitt (51), was waiting for the train to return to his Detroit suburbs home when a train station worker shouted at him and others in the lobby to evacuate. At first, he wasn't sure if the train was running away or an active shooter. But word soon spread about the shooter.
Bobbit was visiting Chicago to attend a National Association of Realtors summit. He and other passengers quickly went outside and saw firefighters and police arrive.
He said that nobody was really laughing, not even the children. We all ran outside and waited.
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Bobbitt stated that they were allowed to return to the station within 10 or 15 minutes. He was amazed at the speed with which the situation was resolved.
He said that he boarded the train at 5:50 p.m. when the trains were scheduled to depart.
Amtrak and Chicago Police Department are both investigating.
sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com
