Chicago police are investigating after five people were stabbed in three separate incidents at CTA train stations in the Loop between last night and early today.
The first three victims were stabbed during a robbery on the Jackson Red Line platform around 9:14 p.m. Thursday, police said.
Two offenders ordered a 29-year-old man to surrender his backpack at knifepoint. He complied but suffered a stab wound to the back of his ear during the hold-up, according to police. An ambulance took him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
Police said the offenders cut two other men while fleeing the scene: A 30-year-old man was taken to Northwestern with a stab wound to his head, and a 32-year-old man, who was found at the Roosevelt station, declined medical attention, according to a CPD report.
The offenders may have escaped by running through the pedway tunnel that leads to the Blue Line. An officer described them as two thin Black males who stand about 6-feet tall. One wore gray skinny jeans with a long black coat and blue gloves, while the other wore colorful gym shoes, yellow sweatpants, a black coat, and a white and black camouflage hoodie.
Later, a 29-year-old man suffered multiple stab wounds throughout his body on the Washington Blue Line platform. Police said he got involved in an argument with a man who pulled out a pair of scissors and began stabbing him around 3:34 a.m. today.
Officers who arrived at the scene said the victim appeared to be stabbed over a dozen times on both arms, his back, and his hands. EMS took him to Northwestern in fair condition.
Police searched the area for a suspect described as a Black male who stands about 5’6″ tall wearing a black hat with a brown leather coat.
Most recently, police responded to a person on the 100 block of North Michigan Avenue. According to preliminary information, a man who is about 30-years-old told police someone stabbed him in the back as he was entering a nearby Brown Line station. A CPD spokesperson said the police report was not finalized, and they could not yet access the case information.
EMS transported the victim to Northwestern.
CWBChicago reported last month that, while ridership on the CTA’s train system remains significantly lower than during the pre-COVID era, city statistics show that robberies and violent attacks on the L system from downtown to the North Side are at their highest point in at least ten years.
Surprisingly, robbery reports were up significantly in 2021 even when compared to many pre-COVID years when ridership was strong, we reported. Muggings on the famed train system were up more than 100% compared to pre-COVID era lows in 2015 and 2014 as of December.
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