Woman robbed at gunpoint by masked men on Near West Side

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police said a woman was robbed by masked men on the city's Near West Side Wednesday afternoon.

The incident appears to be the latest in a string of robberies in the area. The woman who was robbed ran to a nearby Bank of America for help. Fortunately, she was not hurt.

The robbery happened around 12:30 p.m. in the 1600-block of West Adams Street near South Ashland Avenue. Investigators at the scene Wednesday afternoon were focused on a doorway which leads in and out of a nearby parking garage.

Police said a woman was robbed at gunpoint by two male offenders, one wearing a surgical mask and the other wearing what's described as a skeleton face mask.

Police said the robbers fired shots at the victim, but did not hit her, before they fled in a beige-colored vehicle.

The woman then went for help at the nearby bank.

"I'm glad nobody got hurt. I'm glad she was safe. But it is scary. It's scary to see something like that in broad daylight," said Carlos Zarate, bank employee.

Police said there have been at least 10 robberies in the Near West Side and West Town since last week, including today's:

- Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 12:10 a.m. in the 100-block of North Oakley Boulevard

- Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6 a.m. in the 1100-block of West Kinzie Street

- Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6:15 a.m. in the 700-block of West Grand Avenue

- Saturday, Oct. 21 at 8:41 a.m. in the 1800-block of West Fulton Street

- Sunday, Oct. 22, at 4:15 p.m. in the 2300-block of West Monroe Street

- Sunday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in the 1400-block of West Carroll Avenue

- Monday, Oct. 23 at 12:20 a.m. in the 1300-block of West Fulton Street

- Monday, Oct. 23 at 12:45 a.m. in the 300-block of South Hoyne Avenue

Mary McCarthy was robbed around 9 p.m. Monday while walking to her car near North Wood Street and West Erie Street when a man with a bandana over his face robbed her of her wallet and phones.

"You think, 'I could have been shot in the face.' And I was that close to it because the gun was three inches away," she said. "He said, 'This is a gun and I will shoot you.'"

The incidents are similar to the Tuesday robbery, involving two young men, both African American, wearing surgical masks and surgical gloves in some of the robberies.

Residents are fed up.

"I was feeling like a victim, and now I'm feeling really angry. And I can't believe that they're getting away with this," McCarthy said.

Police are warning people who live and work in the area to be on alert.