(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- For many Gold Coast residents, their Monday morning wakeup call was the sound of gunshots, as Chicago police and a burglary suspect exchanged gunfire following an attempted crash-and-grab at the Prada store.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told reporters someone tried to drive a Dodge Durango SUV into the windows of Prada, at 30 E. Oak St., about 4:15 a.m. As responding officers got to the scene, they encountered a gunman who began to run away.
Officers told him to drop the gun, but the man refused and there was an exchange of gunfire, Snelling said.
The officer was shot in the leg during the shootout and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect was also taken to Northwestern in serious-to-critical condition, according to Snelling and Chicago Fire Department Chief Walter Schroeder.
The wounded officer was released from the hospital by early Monday afternoon, according to Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), whose ward includes the intersection of State and Walton streets, where one of the vehicles involved in the robbery was found.
Hopkins said “at least four vehicles, possibly more” had carried offenders to the scene and that two weapons had been recovered.
“They both had extended magazines and automatic switches installed on them,” the alderperson said. “The preliminary investigation suggested that the offenders fired first.”
The same block was rocked by another high-profile shooting on Aug. 4, 2020 when rapper FBG Duck was killed and two other people were wounded in an attack that federal prosecutors have linked to a lengthy gang war. That was the only other shooting in the first block of East Oak Street since at least 2010, according to city records.
Kim Hendricks said she has lived in the same building for 32 years and she’s never seen anything like what happened this morning.
She woke up to the sound of gunshots and looked out her window to see squad cars and an ambulance all over the street.
“It’s a different world. It’s a different city, I just don’t get it,” Hendricks said.
“It seems like after the summer of 2020, that’s when things went downhill. I’ve heard a police officer say these kids got brazen, and I guess that’s what it is because I’ve been here a long time and I’ve never seen it like this.”
James Cooper, who recently moved back to the city, said waking up to the sound of gunshots was concerning, but it doesn’t make him feel unsafe. However, his parents have recently started taking precautions.
“It happens rare enough that it’s not terrible,” Cooper said. “My parents are definitely more cautious now … because they don’t feel 100% safe in this neighborhood, which is crazy because it’s downtown.
“It’s just gotten out of hand,” he said.
Police are looking for several additional people involved in the attack. Two guns were recovered from the scene. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is also investigating.
Rob Karr, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said the group has noticed a significant uptick in the use of firearms during smash-and-grab robberies.
“We think that’s a reaction to retail trying to harden their stores, trying to make it more difficult, and that is forcing the criminals to be more brazen,” Karr said.
Reports of robberies have contributed to high vacancy rates in some of the city’s major retail districts, Karr said.
“It continues to be a struggle to not only keep people from moving to other locations but also to attract new entrants,” Karr said. “We think Chicago still has a lot to offer, but this is a self-inflicted wound and Chicago needs to heal itself.”
To address the issue, Karr said the state’s attorney’s office needs to implement a “zero-tolerance approach,” and prosecute shoplifting at a lower threshold.
The same store was the target of a robbery over the summer, according to a report from CBS 2. At least six people entered the store in the middle of a Sunday afternoon and made off with thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise.
A meeting to discuss increasing security measures in the area already had been scheduled for Monday. Hopkins was there, as well as officials from the Magnificent Mile Association, the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Hopkins said it is now full speed ahead for installing bollards on Oak Street and Michigan Avenue.
“We have several designs of bollards that don’t look like bollards. We’re trying to make it look like it’s just part of the decorative landscape. But they’re designed to prevent vehicles from leaving the roadway, crossing the sidewalk and smashing into a storefront,” said Hopkins.
The bollards cost about $1,000 apiece, he added, though that does not include installation.
No estimate on installation costs is available, Hopkins said, though the location of utility lines must be taken into account.
“We’re looking to expedite this,” he said, and are leaning toward funding the project with money from the taxing district created to fund security improvements in the area. That taxing district is knowns as a special service area, or SSA.
“We think it’s something retailers will support,” Hopkins said. “It keeps happening targeting the stores on Oak Street and Michigan Avenue. The sooner we can get these security bollards installed, the less likely it is we’re gonna have these repeat offenses targeting the same stores.”
If nothing is done, and “if this keeps happening, some of the retailers may give up on the area, and we can’t afford that,” Hopkins said. “How much does it cost to constantly repair the damage to your storefront? Even if insurance covers some of it, at some point they’re gonna stop covering it because it happens with such frequency.”
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2024. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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