3 women robbed at gunpoint in South Loop

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three women were robbed by a masked man armed with a handgun in the South Loop Sunday night, Chicago police said.

The women were standing on the sidewalk in the 800-block of South Wabash Avenue about 8:30 p.m. when police said they were approached by the suspect wearing a white mask.

The robber took out a handgun and demanded property from the three women, police said. The women complied and the suspect fled southbound.

The three women were not injured. A person of interest in the incident was being questioned Monday afternoon, police said.

Sunday's incident is just the latest in a string of armed robberies that prompted CPD to issue a community alert, and neighbors say similar incidents are happening more often.

"It's been going on now for a couple of years and getting worse and worse," said Wendy Cobrin, who lives in the area.

Columbia College students who frequent the neighborhood say they get emails from the school about crime watches in the area. Student Hayden Marth said this latest incident hits close to home.

"One of my roommates was followed by a guy in a white mask," Marth said. "She was on the Red Line and he was on the Red Line as well."

A liquor store on the same block was robbed over Labor Day weekend. The store manager, who did not want to be identified, said two armed, masked men entered the store, hit one of the employees and made off with cash and cartons of cigarettes.

"I'm adding more cameras to the store, I'm adding more panic buttons," the manager said. "I'm applying for my gun license as well."