Oak Brook police, DuPage state's attorney issue call for witnesses to Oakbrook Center shooting
The investigation continued Saturday into Thursday's gunfight between two men at Oakbrook Center mall that wounded four, including one of the suspects, and kept shoppers and mall employees in lockdown for several hours.
Oak Brook police and the DuPage County state's attorney's office issued a call for witnesses Saturday afternoon.
In a news release, the Oak Brook police said they are looking for "anyone who observed the shooting or attempted to advise police officers or security officers of the offenders fleeing the area."
"Witnesses are vital to any case, but especially in a significant incident such as this," it said.
The release urged witnesses to contact the police tip line at Police-TipLine@oak-brook.org.
Police said the wounded suspect is in custody, as is another man described as a "companion" of the other suspect, who is still at large.
It is unclear where the two men were captured and if and when charges are coming, and no names have been released.
Oak Brook police have circulated surveillance photos of a man they said was the shooter who fled the scene. He is described as a Black man with long, dark dreadlocks, a medium build and height, and in his 30s. He was wearing a blue jacket. Anyone who has seen the man is advised to call police at (630) 368-8746.
The gunfire stemmed from an outdoor confrontation between the two shooters and the companion at 5:44 p.m. Thursday on the second floor of the Nordstrom wing, near Ann Taylor, police said.
Authorities said one of the shooters, a man in his 30s, was shot four times: in the left thigh, the right thigh, the right calf and the lower back. He underwent surgery at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove and is expected to survive.
The hospital did not respond to a request for updates on Saturday.
Three bystanders were also hit by gunfire. Two women in their 40s were each shot once in their left thighs, and a woman in her 20s was shot in the right foot.
The women were also treated at Good Samaritan for the injuries that were called not life-threatening.
A fifth victim, a woman in her 20s, broke her ankle while running away from the scene. She was treated at Elmhurst Hospital.
An Oak Brook police officer working an extra detail at Nordstrom Thursday afternoon heard the exchange of gunfire and responded.
Shoppers ducked inside stores to hide, and the 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.
For hours, the parking lot at the mall was illuminated by the flashing lights of police cars, and helicopters hovered above the drama unfolding in and around the mall.
Oak Brook police were assisted by officers from approximately 30 communities, among them SWAT teams from Kane and DuPage counties and the Cook County sheriff's police canine unit.
Two pistols, including a 9 mm weapon, were recovered at the scene, police said.
The mall reopened Friday, with the flood of last-minute shoppers showing no hint of the violence that occurred the night before, other than extra police were on hand.
• Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.