Chicago police are trying to track down a man who apparently pointed a gun at a TV news crew during a live broadcast in River North on Wednesday morning. It happened live on Fox 32 as reporter Joanie Lum broadcast for the morning news. A screen grab tweeted by @CPD1617Scanner shows the man pointing an object at the camera around 7:06 a.m.
“The gun was one foot from her head as he pointed at the camera or cameraman Gary,” fellow Fox 32 reporter Anita Padilla said on Twitter. “She is understandably shaken. Thank God she is okay.”
Chicago police released three images of the man who they said “brandished a suspect firearm” and then fled on foot. The CPD community alert said it happened at 6:34 a.m., about 30 minutes before the time seen on the TV image.
The suspect is 18- to 25-years-old and 5’6″ to 5’8″ tall.
Minutes before the incident aired, police responded to calls of a similarly-described man who was causing a disturbance just a couple of blocks away inside a Starbucks on the 500 block of North State. It’s not clear if the two incidents are related.
Anyone with information about the man can call Area Three detectives at 312-744-8261. The case number is JF-259784.