Man arrested on billboard after police say he waved gun on Brown Line at Chicago Avenue, snagging trains
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Service was halted after a man with a gun was spotted on the CTA Brown Line tracks Tuesday evening.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, the search for the armed man ultimately led to a dramatic arrest. But before that, it was quite the right home for those taking the Brown Line Tuesday night.
When a train arrived at the Chicago Avenue and Franklin Street stop in River North Tuesday evening, passengers were ordered to stay put – because a man was waving a gun on might be on the platform or the tracks.
Video posted to Twitter by Brown Line passenger Cliff DeMartino showed officers going through the train looking for the man with the gun. We are told officers asked passengers on the 'L' if they were okay, and more importantly, if they saw a man lurking with a gun.
It all made for scary moments, no doubt, for those on the train.
But in an even scarier development, the suspected gunman was spotted - and captured on dramatic video. He was not on a train, the tracks, or a platform at that point – but on a billboard mounted on the side the tracks that advertises Apple AirPods.
The Chicago Fire Department brought out a ladder – and Chicago Police officers went up that ladder with their guns to apprehend the man. Police eventually got the man to surrender – he walked down the fire truck ladder with officers right behind him.
The man is believed to have jumped onto the train with the passengers and then to have run down the 'L' tracks.
When police arrested the man on the billboard, he did not have the gun. Officers searched the train and tracks, but it is not clear if police found the weapon – or if he tossed it while running from the Chicago/Franklin station.
No passengers or officers were injured.
The Brown Line was suspended for some time amid the chain of events, but the Chicago Transit Authority said it was back up and running normally by 10 p.m.