Cops searching for man who escaped SWAT standoff in Wheeling

A 24-year-old man who held authorities at bay in a Wheeling townhouse Friday morning managed to escape police and remains at large.

Police have not issued a description but said the man's gun was recovered.

"We don't have reason to believe that he's a direct threat to anybody in that area," Deputy Chief Bill Benson said. "We don't have information that he was there to threaten or harm anyone, so that's why we don't want to cause a panic."

Police said the man had locked himself in the Colonial Drive townhouse with two other adults and three young children about 1 a.m.

A SWAT team had the building surrounded for hours, and the others inside managed to get out safely, Benson said.

But when police finally entered the townhouse at 812 Colonial Drive, the suspect was gone.

Benson said it's likely the man ran off in the time it took for backup officers to get to the scene and wasn't in the home during the whole standoff.

The man has lived at the townhouse on and off, Benson said.

"We have an idea of who the suspect is," he said. "We don't want to release the name unless he's charged."

Benson said that when the suspect is taken into custody, the police likely will ask for charges of unlawful use of a weapon for carrying the handgun and with obstructing justice for running away,.

The standoff began after an officer patrolling the area saw the man with what appeared to be a handgun, Benson said.

The officer approached the man, who then retreated into the townhouse. A man, woman and child exited a short time later and told police two other small children remained inside.

The residents had told police they were not sure if the suspect was still in the house.

The Northern Illinois Police Alarm System team, known as NIPAS, was able to remove the remaining children from the home between 3:30 and 4 a.m., authorities said.

A .22-caliber pistol, which police believe belonged to the suspect, was found in the parking lot.

Three major intersections -- Elmhurst and McHenry roads, Elmhurst and Dundee roads and Dundee and Wheeling roads -- were shut down during the standoff, reopening at 6:30 a.m. Friday.

Immediate neighbors said they were told to leave the area; police told those in the periphery to stay inside their homes.

Sarah Hudson, a neighbor, said she heard noises at 3 a.m.

"You could just tell how bad the neighborhood is becoming," she said. "It just becomes worse and worse."

The windows on the townhouse were broken. NIPAS shot bean bag projectiles through the windows as a diversionary tactic just before they broke into the home.

Benson, meanwhile, said he's aware that the Colonial area has become a hotspot for crime in the past years, and the department has been putting in extra watches there.

"We've met with the members of the Colonial community," he said.