Standoff with armed man in Oak Park resolved without incident after more than 18 hours, police say

Rosemary Sobol, Shanzeh Ahmad, Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune
Updated ·2 min read
Standoff with armed man in Oak Park resolved without incident after more than 18 hours, police say

A standoff with an armed man at an Oak Park apartment that began Thursday and lasted more than 18 hours was resolved with no injuries Friday morning, according to police.

The standoff ended around 5:20 a.m. when the man surrendered and was transported to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, police said in a tweet.

Officers responded to the 1100 block of North Harlem Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday for reports of an individual “armed and barricaded in his apartment,” according to Oak Park police.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, Oak Park police officers and officers from the Cook County sheriff’s office were still on the scene “working to resolve the situation.”

Traffic was being diverted and the public was asked to avoid the area Thursday, police said. Harlem Avenue reopened to traffic Friday morning as officers processed the scene of the incident.

Charles Shapera, executive director of Har Zion synagogue, 1040 N. Harlem Ave. in River Forest, said police asked them about 3 p.m. to move the children from their preschool, located in the synagogue, to nearby Concordia University.

“There’s some standoff with police,” Shapera said officers told them.

None of the children were injured and they were not told of the situation.

“The children knew nothing. It was like a field trip,” Shapera said. “We have not experienced this in the past.”

Albert Popowits lives in a condo along Harlem in the blocked-off area. He said at about 9:15 p.m. that the situation remained ongoing. “Everything is the same except now it’s dark out,” said Popowits.

“I’ve never seen so many police cars and ambulances in my life,” Popowits said earlier. The cars had all their lights flashing and were parked “end to end” from Division to Augusta streets.

Popowits said he was not frightened “at all” and residents in his 30-unit condo building were not asked to leave.

“It’s exciting — not a boring day,” he said.

Chicago Tribune reporter Adriana Perez contributed.