Tensions rose and police swarmed the Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie on Tuesday afternoon after reports emerged of an individual with a gun on the premises, sending shoppers and employees into a state of high alert. According to a report by Chicago Sun-Times, the mall was thrust into a lockdown around 3 p.m. following these reports, which later turned out to be inaccurate; by 3:44 p.m., the Skokie Police had lifted the lockdown, affirming that the calls regarding shots fired were unfounded.
Witness Phong Nguyen, 21, described the scene outside Nordstrom as chaotic with officers cordoning off the area, restricting movement into and out of the mall, and shared with Chicago Sun-Times the fear that took hold, "As I was leaving the store, I saw a mother and her two kids running away, so I immediately sped to my car." The lockdown, which forced many to shelter in place, such as those at a hair salon within the mall, was initiated upon a business owner's receipt of an alert about a person with a gun on the property.
Alongside the lockdown at the mall, a visible line of police squad cars was reported by CBS News Chicago outside the Macy's store and around the area, with at least eight spotted near Macy's and others outside the Nordstrom store. Natalie Buckham, an employee at Macy's, recounted to CBS News Chicago, "Huge rifles… kind of like standing in front of the entrance way," detailing her experience of being told to remain in her car and to keep the doors locked, indicative of active shooter protocols being implemented.
The situation, spurred by an altercation between two individuals who were subsequently detained by the police, led to a massive response reflecting the current climate of rapid law enforcement mobilization in the wake of public threats, Arthur Lurigio, a professor of criminal justice at Loyola University of Chicago, suggested to CBS News Chicago that the strong police reaction was necessary because "You don't know what's going to happen," referencing a shooting in New York that occurred the previous Monday, killing four, including an NYPD officer.
Once police concluded the investigation and ascertained no further threat was present, with no injuries or gunfire reported, normal activities slowly resumed at the mall. Reflecting on the day's events, Buckham told CBS News Chicago, "Back at work, clocking in, making sales — that's kind of the way of the world," but she expressed a disconnect with such immediate return to routine, "But do I agree with that? No, I don't. Wholeheartedly, I don't." The Skokie Police have maintained that the investigation is still in progress and have made no confirmation on whether a firearm was recovered as part of their ongoing efforts to uncover the full circumstances of the incident.
