The store was closed at the time, but the robbery set off a massive search, which ended around 8:00 a.m. The Home Depot remained closed for a few hours longer, allowing police to process the scene and employees to regroup.
At about 11 a.m., the manager said the store had opened for business.
"We got here at 6:50 this morning and there was a SWAT team out here, and a lot of squad cars, a few fire trucks, and a few ambulances, and they said there was a situation at Home Depot," said TigerDirect employee Jacob Clark.
Employees at Marketplace at Vernon Hills shopping center were not able to get to their jobs for a couple of hours as SWAT teams searched for two armed robbers, who, police say, tried to hold up the Home Depot.
The store was closed, but there were employees inside. They alerted police to the situation.
"They told us that two armed men had come into the store attempting to commit an armed robbery. The employees were able to get out of the building and they called us," said Vernon Hills police officer Sharon Joseph.
Police say that the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System (NIPAS) was called in to assist. None of the employees were harmed.
"We secured the area with local enforcement agencies and called in the local SWAT team, called NIPAS, who came in and then secured the other stores in the area, did searches for the suspects," said Joseph. "Unfortunately, at this time, the suspects have not been located."
Employees at the shopping center say that it is not unusual for people to be working overnight at this shopping center.
"A lot of the places in here in retail and everything, they got the warehouse people that have to constantly keep the inventory going, and cleaning, and so forth," said TigerDirect employee Helen Rosado. "I'm suspecting somebody knows that type of routine happens over here, and that is probably why this happened."
An employee at another store also told ABC7 that they had people here overnight and remained on lockdown for several hours until the search was completed.
We also contacted Home Depot. They told us they are cooperating with police, but would not comment further because this is still an ongoing investigation.
