Chicago police shot and critically wounded a knife-wielding man at a River North hotel while responding to a call Monday afternoon, authorities say.
Officers saw a man with a knife in the 100 block of West Hubbard Street, but said when they tried to stop him, he fled. The officers chased the man into the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 30 E. Hubbard St., where they tried to deescalate the situation, Chicago police said.
Several officers tried to incapacitate the man with Tasers but failed, they said. The man then turned toward officers while holding the knife, and two officers fired shots about 2:45 p.m., they said. A weapon was recovered at the scene.
The man was shot in his upper body and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, police said.
Two police officers were also taken to Northwestern as a precaution, Chicago Police Department spokesman Tom Ahern said.
A representative for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates police shootings, was at the scene.
COPA is responding to an officer-involved shooting near 30 E. Hubbard. If you or anyone you know has any information related to this incident, please call our office at 312-746-3609 or visit https://t.co/LqABRQUFLE
— COPA (@ChicagoCOPA) April 7, 2025
According to police scanner traffic, officers initially responded to a report of a man armed with a knife in the first block of East Hubbard Street.
As the situation unfolded, a Chicago police officer told a dispatcher the armed man was walking through an alley toward State Street, then entered a 7-Eleven at 451 N. State St.
“He has a large butcher knife, about 6 inches,” the dispatcher said.
Moments later, police reported shots had been fired by police after the man entered the hotel.
“30 E. Hubbard, the Marriott, he went inside,’’ an officer said.
“Shots fired by police,” another officer said, calling for EMS.
Hotel guests standing outside told the Sun-Times that the hotel was not allowing anyone to go inside or out.
Bateman Underwood, a 58-year-old pharmaceutical rep from Mississippi, said he had dropped off his luggage at the hotel and stepped out to buy some groceries, but when he got back, the entrance to the hotel was blocked off.
“It’s a big city, so it doesn’t surprise me,” Underwood said. “I feel bad for the officers and the guy. If I had been inside and seen him when it happened, I probably would have tackled the guy.”
Hannah Cotten, 36, was also standing outside the hotel with her luggage wondering when she would be able to get inside.
Cotten, from Nashville, said she’s visited Chicago many times but had never witnessed a crime scene before.
“This whole situation is very sad,” Cotten said. “I just hope he and the officers are OK.”