Search underway for armed suspect in Orland Park bank robbery

ORLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Police are searching for a man considered armed and dangerous after robbing a bank in southwest suburban Orland Park.

The FBI says a man walked in to the First Midwest Bank branch on 143rd Street armed with a handgun before he leaped over the counter and grabbed cash.

Police say the suspect fired one shot in the direction of a bank employee and another at a customer walking into the bank, but no one was hurt.

"My daughter was shopping at Meijer and I told her go home! I don't want you out walking around until they find this guy," said Karen Demas, an Orland Park resident.

The robber-turned-shooter ran into a residential neighborhood behind the bank, where police dogs lost his trail.

"If you saw something, no matter how small in detail they believe it is, please call the Orland Park police or local FBI office," said Cmdr. John Keating, Orland Park Police Dept.

The FBI described the suspect as an African American male with a thin build, wearing a hoodie and a dark mask on the lower portion of his face. There is a reward being offered for his arrest.

The FBI says it's too soon to say whether they think whether the man responsible for this robbery may be involved in any other recent bank jobs.

There have been 134 bank heists so far this year in northern Illinois, a dozen more robberies than in all of last year.