Hundreds of people crossed the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago in early Monday, squeezing windows, smashing shops and colliding with police for hours.
People ran in and out of the shops along Michigan Avenue carrying shopping bags full of merchandise. As more people drove away, the crowd grew. At least one U-Haul van was seen stopping.
The crowd repeatedly tried to hit the windows of the Omega watch store in Delaware and Michigan Avenue.
“Watch shop,” said one officer. “Eventually they will get it.”
A group of people entered and broke through a squeezed window of a Louis Vuitton store along Walton Place, across the street from the Drake Hotel. A police car passed and the group fled.
But as the car walked away, at least one person tried to enter the store. The police are back.
“Go home!” cried the policeman.
“Go home!” Someone shouted, apparently in response to the officer.
People were seen running through the streets of Huron and the state with a PNC bank with broken windows. Other stores near the block, including Sally Beauty Supply, were vandalized. Other parts of the center, including the Grand and Wabash alleys, were littered with trash.
Police have made several arrests and recovered at least one pistol, officials said. A woman with shopping bags in her hand fell on the sidewalk when the officer chased her. Another woman seemed to be sprinkled with pepper. A stone was thrown at a police car.
An officer was spotted crashing against a building on Grand and Wabash streets while other police officers were watching him. In the locked room, camouflage cops and shields stopped for a moment outside the store on Rush Street and Grand Avenue.
The looting began shortly after midnight and appeared to be centered around Streeterville and North Michigan Avenue. At 3:00 the police felt that things were under control.
Illinois State Police closed the Ohio Street ramp leading to downtown.
It is not clear what caused the vandalism, although graffiti against the police was visible in at least two places.
Hours earlier, on Sunday afternoon, dozens of people came into contact with police after officers in the South side of Englewood shot and injured the suspect.
Officials, in response to reports of a young man with a gun, around 14.
30 spotted someone who matches the description near Moran Park on South Racina Avenue in the 5700th quarter. He fled and when he was attacked by the police, turned around and shot them, the authorities said. He was taken to the Medical Center of the University of Chicago, but his condition was unknown.
More than an hour after the shooting, police and witnesses said a crowd of about 30 people clashed with officers holding a police line near 56th and Aberdeen. Authorities said someone provided false information to the angry group, including police shot and injured a child.
During the fraud, one officer was shot down by spraying pepper, while the other suffered a minor shoulder injury. Two people were arrested and a police car was destroyed with bricks, police added.
A large number of officers took to the streets in almost all directions until the mood of the crowd subsided.
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