Carjacker arrested after sending Northwestern’s Chicago campus into brief lockdown

An armed carjacking on the North Side ended with an arrest in Streeterville on Monday afternoon — but not until Northwestern University briefly put one of its buildings on lockdown. No injuries were reported.

It all started at 12:48 p.m. on the 2000 block of West Arthur in West Rogers Park when a hijacker confronted a driver with a black handgun and took their red Mazda 6, according to a CPD report.

The carjacker drove away with the Mazda, followed by a silver car that was driven by an accomplice.

CPD license plate readers quickly located the Mazda on southbound Lake Shore Drive. Cops intercepted it at Chicago Avenue just after 1 p.m. and a 19-year-old man ran from the vehicle.

A CPD unit blocks the carjacked Mazda on southbound Lake Shore Drive at Chicago Avenue. Police said they found a gun (inset) on the car’s floorboard. | CPD

Northwestern transmitted an active threat for its Chicago campus, advising people to “Run, Hide, Fight. Take proper shelter. Lock and/or barricade doors” while CPD and Northwestern University Police searched for the hijacker.

A subsequent all-clear message said police apprehended the suspect in the basement of the Ward Building, which is part of Northwestern’s medical school.

Chicago later tweeted a photo of a firearm lying on the car’s floorboard. Charges are pending as detectives investigate.

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