Police officer wounded, robbery suspect killed after shooting in Lombard
LOMBARD, Ill. (CBS) -- A Lombard police officer was wounded late Thursday afternoon in a deadly exchange of gunfire with a robbery suspect, who later died.
The sight of police and the mobile command center caught many in Lombard by surprise.
"It's Lombard," said Amery Vandermeir. "You don't expect this to happen here."
Yet Thursday afternoon, armed robbers stormed into a smoke shop in a strip mall at Roosevelt Road and Lincoln Street. People nearby had to take cover as bullets flew.
Vandermeir works next door.
"There was just a lot of whole bunch of ruckus and noise over there, and all the cops came flying down the street," Vandermeir said.
When officers responded to the armed robbery, Lombard police said they encountered the gunmen a short distance to the north in a residential area at Lincoln and Ann streets. But instead of giving themselves up, police said the crooks opened fire when a plainclothes detective tried stopping them.
There was an exchange of gunfire, and a detective was shot and injured in the right leg. The time was 4:11 p.m.
The wounded officer, a 33-year-old six-year veteran of LPD, was taken by another officer in a squad car to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. The officer underwent surgery for his injuries and remains in the hospital in stable condition, police said.
One of the suspects was also shot and killed, while the other was taken into custody. The man killed was identified on social media at Pierre Thompson, 22.
While the chaos ensued, a nearby autism therapy center went into lockdown.
"We made the call to call all of the parents and we told them to stay home, not to come," said Sawsan Midani of the Autism Care Therapy.
It was a call that the employees at this Autism Care Therapy center never thought they'd have to make.
"We took all of the kids and the therapists in the room, and we kept them in the back," Midani said.
Parents like Kaniesha Knight were forced to wait for officers to escort her son from the facility – which is only feet away from the scene.
"They texted me and let me know… that there was a shooting around here," Knight said.
The shooting left those working in the area uneasy.
"I close here every night by myself, so now I'm worried – you know what I'm saying?" said Vandermeir. "What if somebody came in here and tried to do so something to me?"
People were also perplexed the robbers did not surrender once they realized officers had cornered them.
"People just don't care anymore. They're ruthless," Vandermeir said. "I just hope the best for the officer, you know, I'm saying prayers with the family."
There was no word of where the wounds were on the suspect's body.
The DuPage County State's Attorney's Office said they did not have information on charges for the surviving suspect on Friday.
