Chicago Police say they'll be "present and visible" for downtown events in wake of shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Downtown safety is in the spotlight after a woman was shot outside the flagship Chicago flagship Macy's store downtown Saturday night—as thousands gathered for early holiday festivities.
Chicago Police are already looking ahead to the Thanksgiving Day Parade later this week.
After the chaos over the weekend, the CPD is promising to be "present and visible" along the parade route this Thursday, and for other holiday events that will be coming up next month.
Several reporters were near the scene for CBS News Chicago shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday night, when Chicago Police said a 19-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk near State and Washington streets and a male shooter she didn't know fired shots.
The shooting happened as large holiday crowds were gathered downtown for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Parade on Michigan Avenue, as well as the first weekend of the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, just one night after the lighting of the city's official Christmas tree in Millennium Park.
Thousands were downtown at the time.
"All of a sudden there was shootings. Definitely heard lots of fireworks, fire that sound like fireworks," a festival goer said. "We all got told to lay down, we lay down. We were videoing our friends and telling them to just stay down."
The young woman ran inside Macy's after being shot. Video shows the 19-year-old being transported on a stretcher out of the department store.
She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was last listed in fair condition.
"This was unthinkable," said a man who was at Christkindlmarket at the time.
Ald. Bill Conway (34th) spoke with a police commander Sunday, who said a juvenile suspect was charged with unlawful use of a weapon in connection to the case. Chicago Police on Monday did not confirm that anyone was in custody.
Surveillance video from Washington Street shows the panic as crowds of people realized they may be in harm's way.
The CPD said Monday that officers will be present and visible, as always, for the Thanksgiving Day parade Thursday. The parade kicks off at 8 a.m. up State Street, from Ida B. Wells Drive north to Randolph Street.
Of course, plenty of other celebrations are also scheduled for the holiday season, and the CPD said officers are on it.
"CPD will monitor developments to ensure resources are in place to maintain public safety for those taking part in holiday festivities, as well as all who live and work in the area," the CPD said in a statement.
"It intimidates the families that are down there," said Anthony Riccio, a former Chicago Police first deputy superintendent and now director of security at Monterey Security. "Nobody wants to subject their families to that, so it intimidates people."
Riccio said me a visible police presence will be key to giving holiday shoppers and other visitors to downtown confidence in their safety.
"There's a lot of resources available that they have. They have bicycle units, they have foot patrol units, canine units, the marked cars. So there's a lot of different resources that they have," Riccio said. "They really need to throw those resources downtown to ensure that shoppers are safe, and we don't have a repeat of what we saw last weekend,"
As of Monday afternoon, the CPD had no update on the investigation into the shooting at State and Washington street this past weekend.
