Cops: Disgruntled employee shot CEO before killing himself

CHICAGO - A demoted worker shot and critically wounded his company's CEO before fatally shooting himself Thursday in a downtown high-rise office building in Chicago's bustling financial district, police said.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said a worker at a technological company pulled a gun after entering the 17th-floor office to meet one-on-one with his CEO. There was a struggle for the gun, and the CEO was shot twice before the gunman fatally shot himself, McCarthy said.

CBS Chicago has confirmed the shooting took place at the offices of the tech company ArrowStream and the shooting victim was its CEO Steven LaVoie. Sources reportedly tell the station the shooter was Anthony DeFrances.

According to ArrowStream's website, LaVoie founded the firm in 2000 and earned his masters degree from Yale and his bachelors degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He has a wife, Jody, and three daughters.

McCarthy said the company was downsizing and "a number of people," including the alleged shooter, were being demoted.

"Apparently he was despondent over the fact that he got demoted," McCarthy said.

Lavoie, 54, was taken to a hospital in critical condition after being shot in the head and stomach, McCarthy said. The alleged gunman, DeFrances, 59, was pronounced dead at the scene.

DeFrances was the company's Chief Technology Officer and had been with the company "virtually since its inception," according to the company website.

About 10 people were in the office at the time of the incident, McCarthy said. No other injuries were reported.

The office is in the Bank of America building, which is two blocks from the Willis Tower, the country's second-tallest skyscraper, and a block from the Chicago Board of Trade and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.