A worker is dead and a shooter is on the loose after gunfire erupted Thursday morning in the parking garage of an Amazon facility in Melrose Park, turning the start of the workday into a crime scene.
Melrose Park police say officers rushed to the Amazon site just after 9 a.m. following a 911 call about a shooting in the facility’s parking structure. They found one person suffering from gunshot wounds and rushed the victim to Loyola University Medical Center in critical condition, where the person later died during surgery. The suspect took off before police arrived and remained at large as investigators combed the area.
Police: Personal Dispute Turns Deadly In Controlled Garage
According to investigators, the shooting happened inside a controlled-access parking garage at the Amazon building and appears to have grown out of a personal dispute between two people. Officers recovered two shell casings at the scene. About 60 employees were on site at the time, police said, as the facility was operating through the chaos.
Detectives are now working with Amazon to pull and review surveillance footage that might show what led up to the confrontation or where the suspect went afterward. The Melrose Park Police Department, the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, and the Cook County Sheriff's Office are jointly handling the investigation, according to NBC Chicago.
The Building And The Scene
The violence unfolded at Amazon Fulfillment Center DCH8, located at 1825 N. 5th Ave. in Melrose Park, a sprawling distribution hub listed in public business and mapping records. Those listings identify the address as an Amazon fulfillment center, consistent with the location described by authorities. Additional facility details appear on MapQuest.
Who's Investigating And How To Help
Local and county agencies swarmed the scene, and the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional unit that includes Melrose Park and neighboring departments, was activated to assist, per the Berwyn Police Department.
Police are urging anyone with information about the shooting or the suspect to contact the Melrose Park Police Department. The department’s contact page, which includes its non-emergency phone number and other details, is posted by the Melrose Park Police Department.
Context
The killing comes amid a string of unsettling incidents at Amazon facilities this spring. In early May, a person was stabbed at an Amazon fulfillment center near Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, prompting a brief evacuation and an on-site search, according to WRAL. Together, the incidents underscore the difficulty of securing massive distribution campuses and coordinating fast, effective responses between employers and law enforcement teams.
