CHICAGO — A suspect was arrested and taken into custody Friday morning in connection with the shooting death of a 48-year-old woman in a parking garage at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, the Chicago Tribune reported.
UIC police said the suspect was held around 6:20am local time following a major search. He was found at 14th Street and South Damen Avenue, around a half-mile from the scene of the shooting late Thursday. A weapon was also recovered, authorities confirmed.
Police earlier announced they were looking for a 47-year-old man — a 15-year employee on the hospital’s housekeeping staff — who shot and killed his former girlfriend and injured another person at 11:45pm.
The university campus was put into lockdown overnight while the police Hostage Barricade Terrorist unit was brought in following the shootings in the parking garage.
But the suspect was not found on the site despite a vast building-to-building search by SWAT teams, aided in the air by a police helicopter. The lockdown was lifted around 5:00am Friday after the site was declared clear.
Numerous streets around the hospital were shut down amid the ensuing hunt for the gunman.
The university sent an SMS alert to students before 1:00am warning that an “armed and dangerous” man was in the UIC Hospital and was last seen on the second floor.
Students were told to “stay in a secure location and lock doors if possible” while the search continued. “An all-clear message will be transmitted when he is apprehended,” the alert added.
UIC Medical Center spokesman Mark Rosati later said there was no indication that the suspect entered the hospital after the shooting. He said that medical operations and outpatient care were not affected by the incident and would continue as normal Friday, but with a heightened police presence.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford confirmed the woman’s death. He said an ambulance was unable to reach her because the scene was not secured.
Chicago police spokesman Hector Alfaro earlier would only confirm that one female victim was injured in the incident, which he said appeared to be “domestic related.”
A source later confirmed a second victim was hurt, but did not require medical attention.