2 shot, more than 100 people arrested, 13 officers injured amid widespread downtown looting

CPD Supt. David Brown called the looting “pure criminality” in a news conference Monday morning, not connected to any protest.

By Sun-Times Wire Updated Aug 10, 2020, 8:50am CDT

A CVS at LaSalle and Kinzie was one of the stores hit as part of widespread looting in downtown Chicago. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times



Two people were shot, more than 100 people were arrested and 13 police officers were injured as crowds broke windows and looted stores along Michigan Avenue and on the Near North Side overnight and into Monday morning.

Supt. David Brown called the looting “pure criminality” in a news conference Monday morning, not connected to any protest.

“Criminals took to the streets with the confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions,” Brown said, adding that police would aggressively pursue cases against people involved in the looting.

“You have no right, no right to take and destroy the property of others,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at the news conference.

The police have started a neighborhood protection plan, and Brown said a team of detectives has been assigned to scour security footage of all incidents.

Access to downtown will be restricted from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., effective Monday night, Brown said.

For several hours this morning, there were no bus or train services in the area bordered by Fullerton and Ashland avenues and Cermak road for several hours, the CTA said. The transit agency was in the process of restoring normal service shortly before 8 a.m.

All downtown bridges except LaSalle Street were raised. The Chicago Department of Transportation said they were being lowered again as of 7:15 a.m., but ongoing street closures could be expected throughout the downtown area.

Brown said “the seeds for the shameful destruction we saw last night” started with a police-involved shooting in Englewood Sunday afternoon. About 2:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a man with a gun. He fled as they arrived, Brown said, and fired at officers. They returned fire, striking the man, who was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital and is expected to survive. The 20-year-old man had previously faced charges of domestic battery, reckless conduct and child endangerment, Brown said.


After the shooting, a crowd gathered in the area. “Tempers flared, fueled by misinformation,” Brown said. Shortly after that, police became aware of “several social media posts” about looting planned downtown. He said the department reacted by deploying 400 officers to the downtown area.

The first looting incident, Brown said, was at 87th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, but “soon, car caravans were headed into the Loop” to begin looting.

Brown and Lightfoot called on the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to handle the arrests from the looting seriously, arguing that previous arrests by Chicago Police from looting in May and June were not. With local prosecutors dropping cases, looters believed there would be no serious consequences for committing crimes.

Chief Judge Timothy Evans ordered all Cook County courts in downtown Chicago closed Monday due to restricted access to the area. Bond courts at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, the Domestic Violence Courthouse, the Juvenile Justice Division and the suburban municipal district courthouses will remain open.

All non-bond cases scheduled for Monday will be continued for 30 days and affected parties will be notified of their new court dates, according to the chief justice’s office.

Federal court in Chicago was closed as well.

Videos posted to social media showed large crowds breaking windows and entering stores along the Magnificent Mile.