Police apprehend carjacking suspect who went into Northwestern University Chicago Campus building
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police took a carjacking suspect into custody Monday afternoon after he suspect bailed from a vehicle and ran into a building on the Northwestern University Chicago Campus, prompting an active threat warning.
Police said a suspect in a carjacking that happened at 12:48 p.m. in the 2000 block of West Arthur Avenue in West Rogers Park was pursued into the Feinberg Pavilion at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, 251 E. Huron St.
A campus alert said at 1:30 p.m., Chicago Police tried to pull over the suspect at DuSable Lake Shore Drive and Chicago Avenue in Streeterville. The suspect fled the vehicle, and Northwestern reported the suspect was seen in the Morton Medical Research Building, 310 E. Superior St.
Northwestern announced an active threat alert while suspect was at large in the campus buildings.
"He ran and tried to go toward Chicago (Avenue), but he saw the cops pass by, so he turned around and ran right back this way to Starbucks, and that's when the cops came around the corner and ran toward this way," said witness Dave Santiago. "But he already had ran up the stairs – probably came in this building."
The 19-year-old male suspect was in custody by 2:20 p.m. Northwestern said the suspect was arrested in the basement of the Ward Building, 303 E. Chicago Ave.
Video showed the suspect being walked out of the building in handcuffs.
Police tweeted a photo of a gun they said they recovered from the stolen Mazda from which the suspect bailed. Police believe the suspect was the only one in the car when he fled.
Firearm recovered from stolen vehicle from which the suspect fled. @Area3Detectives are investigating. #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/GQhR4hIBFc
— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) May 2, 2022
Police say they are following up with the victims of the carjacking to try and determine if there was more than one suspect in all of this.
This incident came barely a week after the Northwestern Memorial Hospital campus was placed on lockdown as police also rushed in with a SWAT team.
On Sunday, April 24, a call came in on police scanner audio claiming there was a man with a gun holding a nurse hostage in an elevator at the medical center, which is part of the Northwestern Chicago Campus. It purported to be from a man who claimed he was upset about being overcharged.
Sources said the incident last week turned out to be a hoax. It is unclear whether the incident last week was a swatting situation – when someone makes a prank call to emergency services to bring a large number of armed officers to one location.