Car crashes through storefront and drives through Illinois shopping mall; driver in custody
A car drove through a Sears storefront at the massive Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg on Friday afternoon and drove around inside the shopping center, which is filled with hundreds of shops and restaurants.
A suspect was arrested, authorities said, and the mall was evacuated. Although fire officials initially called it a “mass casualty incident,” there were no reports of any injuries.
MABAS 1 – Schaumburg Fire – EMS Box Alarm – Mass Causality Incident – 5 Woodfield Mall
— Tri-State Fire Alert (@Fire_Alerts911) September 20, 2019
Schaumburg is a northwestern suburb of Chicago, located about 30 miles outside of the city.
Social media reports about the incident emerged around 2:30 p.m. Central time. Video posted to Twitter showed a black SUV driving inside the mall near the Forever 21 store.
So this just happened at Woodfield. I’m safe. Jesus Christ pic.twitter.com/fOfhtPkWvr
— ronin (@nipsfalloff) September 20, 2019
An ABC-7 Chicago news helicopter was over the scene shortly before 3 p.m. Central time and showed images of a shattered entrance to the Sears store.
By late afternoon, FBI officials in Chicago said there was no longer a threat to public safety.
#FBI Chicago is aware of the incident at Schaumburg Mall and is assisting local law enforcement as requested. There is no threat to public safety.
— FBI Chicago (@FBIChicago) September 20, 2019
Lauren Potts Carney had just parked at the mall when she heard the crash and was shocked to see shoppers fleeing from the building. Carney told ABC Chicago station WLS she’s now overcome with relief that no one seems to be hurt.
Witness Lateef Farooqui said he was sitting in the food court at the time of the incident.
“Yeah, it was like a pinball going right to left,” he said of the SUV. “I don’t know if it was like an anger issue going after Forever 21, but that one was the most obvious one he went through. And then he backed out of there and then moved to the complete opposite side.”
