Standoff ends in Bridgeview with no injuries

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- A standoff that started in the late morning hours in south suburban Bridgeview ended around 4 p.m. Thursday with no injuries, police said.

Witnesses said the incident began in the vicinity of 90th and Harlem Avenue between 10 and 11 a.m. when an elderly woman left a Salvation Army in the area and was approached by a man armed with a gun. The man demanded her belongings, witnesses said, and the woman complied. After that, the man ran to a two-story apartment building and holed himself up inside.

Police and SWAT units, some heavily armed, responded to the scene. Police said the suspect is believed to have had a gun during the standoff, which lasted for hours. Children and families were evacuated from other residences in the building, witnesses said.

"When I got down here, there were police officers in that parking lot over here with their guns drawn and people running out of the building. I saw women and children, and the cops were taking them and hiding them behind Popeye's, on the opposite side of Popeye's. So police drawing them towards them, out of the building, into a safe area," said Brian Mehringer, witness.

Police began leaving the area around 4 p.m., and told ABC7 Eyewitness News that the area is no longer secured and closed. Harlem Avenue, which was closed to traffic during the standoff, has also reopened.

Police did not confirm if the suspect was in custody, but said no one was harmed during the standoff.