Four people killed and several injured after a shooting at Mercy Hospital Chicago on Monday afternoon, local time, said reports. Injured persons are in critical condition, authorities said.
It was not immediately clear whether the shooter took his own life or was killed by police. Christine Calace, a police department spokeswoman, told media shots were fired inside and outside the hospital building.
A witness claimed that the attacker was shooting at random. The shooting apparently began as the suspect was walking with a woman near a parking lot. He shot the woman in the chest, then entered the hospital while continuing to fire indiscriminately.
A police officer gave chase and the bystanders heard him fire another half a dozen shots. “We heard more gunshots and arguing,” a staff said. “We stayed barricaded for about 30 minutes until the police (arrived) and we ran out a back (exit).”
There were news media reports of a large police presence in the area and mass evacuations at the hospital.
Mercy Hospital and Medical Center is a 292-bed hospital. Monday’s incident comes a few weeks after gunfire shook the nation with two bloody rampages, one at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, and another at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
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