Oakbrook Center resumes business as usual the day after shooting
Oakbrook Center mall was busy Friday morning with shoppers doing last-minute holiday shopping and dining.
There were no obvious signs that four people had been shot there Thursday evening, when two men fired as many as 15 shots at each other.
Susan O'Donnell of Elmhurst, who was waiting for the Lash cosmetics store to open shortly before 10 a.m., said she figured the mall would be extra safe Friday, with added police and security officers.
Plus, she said: "Given the reality of our gun-control laws, it could have happened anywhere. So I did not hesitate to come here."
Ernest Dawkins, who lives in Chicago, said his first reaction Thursday when he heard the news was "man, not there."
"To have that happen out here, especially in an outdoor mall, it's asinine. Everything is moving," Dawkins said. "And there's too many guns" getting into the hands of young people, Dawkins said.
Oak Brook police had said Thursday there would be extra police at the mall. Two could be seen walking through it, and another officer, working with a police dog, was near the Louis Vuitton store. Another officer was spotted in the Apple store.
The owner of the mall, Brookfield Properties, declined to comment on Thursday's event.
No charges had been filed against anyone as of midday Friday.
One suspect remains hospitalized, recovering from gunshot wounds to his legs and back. He is expected to survive, police said.
The condition of the three women who were injured by gunshots is not known. On Thursday police said their injuries were not life-threatening.
The shooting happened shortly before 6 p.m., near an Ann Taylor Loft store on the Nordstrom wing of the mall. Authorities say three men got in to a confrontation, and two of them fired pistols.
The women who were shot were not involved in the confrontation, police said.
Another woman broke her ankle while running for cover.
Shoppers ducked inside stores to hide. Mall management sent out an alert to stores, whose workers locked their doors. Police searched the mall store by store for five hours looking for the second suspect, releasing the last people at 11:55 p.m.
Police are still looking for one suspect, described as a Black man with long, dark dreadlocks, a medium build and height, in his 30s. He was wearing a blue jacket. They released images of him from surveillance video.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Oak Brook Administrative Sgt. Reid Foltynwiecz at (630) 368-8732 or send an email to rfoltyniewicz@oak-brook.org.