Man beaten and robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight in West Loop

A bustling downtown neighborhood has been left on edge after a brutal armed robbery in broad daylight. West Loop leaders and business owners were speaking out on Friday about the attack.

The Fulton Market District is one of those areas in city where people walk all times of the day and night, but it was the middle of day when two armed thieves targeted a man walking Thursday afternoon near Fulton and Peoria streets.

The attack left people questioning what more can and should be done to improve safety in the area.

Police said, around 4:20 p.m. Thursday, a 49-year-old man was on the sidewalk near Lake and Peoria streets when two men came up, one of them pointed a gun at him, and the other started beating him.

Cell phone video shared on social media shows one of the robbers pointing a gun at the victim's head while he's lying on the ground, before both robbers jump into a Range Rover and flee the scene after robbing the victim of his belongings.

"I watched that a lot, and I saw that gun near his head. You know, we can say, 'Oh, I would've did this. I'll do this happens to me.' I honestly can't tell you what I would do," said Ashley Shannon, manager of Jars gourmet dessert shop in the West Loop.

Shannon said she hopes she doesn't find out what she would do in the same situation, considering the brazen robbery happened right outside her bakery shop. She was in the back prepping the store at the time of the robbery.

"It was kind of startling, because it's like, wow, I'm back here and I'm not even knowing that it's happening right outside our doors," she said. "I see the police on feet, on their bikes. They come in, they speak, so we feel pretty safe here, but that was really surprising to see that."

While the team at the shop feels safe, Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Chicago Fulton Market Association, said what happened was "unacceptable."

"It's unacceptable on so many reasons. It cannot happen again," he said.

Romanelli said this armed robbery of a random man speaks to bigger issues.

"We had two other armed robberies in January that we put a notice out. No wonder these guys are coming back," he said.

Romanelli said he was on the same block just hours before the robbery. He stressed Fulton Market has been pushing for more than a year to get police to install pod cameras in the area. He said 20 cameras are needed in the West Loop.

"You're showing video, right, that was taken by a good Samaritan. That was taken because some person just happened to turn on their camera and catch that crime. If we had a network of modern cameras, police cameras in Fulton Market, all the criminals will know that and that will keep the criminals away," he said.

Some businesses have gone as far as to hire private security, but the Fulton Market Association said those businesses pay too much in taxes to not be able to get police on board to install cameras. A meeting with police leaders has been scheduled for next week to discuss crime in the area. That meeting ws scheduled before Thursday'a attack.

Thankfully, the victim in this attack was not seriously hurt, and refused medical attention.