But it should be. Bridges Raised, Roads Closed in Chicago After Rioting, Looting Breaks Out
All bridges along the Chicago River were raised throughout The Loop, according to CBS Chicago.
Chicago’s Officer of Emergency Management said on Twitter that streets are closed in the city’s Magnificent Mile shopping district as well as Gold Coast and South Loop neighborhoods. The Illinois State Police also blocked some expressway ramps into downtown.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Transit Authority announced that train and bus services to the downtown area were suspended “at the request of public safety officials.”
The measures came after mass looting took place in the downtown area, with reports of numerous businesses being ransacked and vehicles set on fire.
Chicago Tribune has more;
Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores, confronting police and at one point exchanging gunfire with officers, authorities said.
The officers had stopped several people on Lake Street near Michigan Avenue when shots were fired from a passing car around 4:30 a.m., nearly five hours into the widespread vandalism, according to police spokesman Tom Ahern. No officers were shot but a squad car was hit, he said. It was not known if anyone in the gunman’s car was shot.
Ahern said other officers were injured through the night. Earlier, an officer was seen slumped against a building by Grand and Wabash avenues as other other cops tended to him. It was unclear what had happened to him. Ahern had no details on the injuries.
The looting began shortly after midnight as people darted through broken store windows and doors along Michigan Avenue carrying shopping bags full of merchandise. Cars dropped off more people as the crowd grew. At least one U-Haul van was seen pulling up.
Flashback: “I have never seen the likes of this,” Sadlowski-Garza said. “I’m scared.”
Andy Ngo has more on Twitter.
