Man shot outside O’Hare terminal when early-morning fight escalates to gunfire

CHICAGO (WGN) — One man was injured when a fight on the street outside Terminal 2 at O’Hare International Airport escalated to gunfire early Wednesday morning.

Witnesses described what sounded like automatic gunfire, then people running everywhere. A bullet-shattered window outside Terminal 2 became an unwanted attraction for travelers going in and out of the airport.

“It must’ve been about quarter-to-one, I heard what sounded like just rapid-fire, like automatic fire,” said James Van Schaick, who was staying at a hotel. He told WGN he’s a retired police officer, though he declined to say from which department.

“I looked out my window … and I saw people scattering in both directions. And then I heard a bunch of single shots,” he said, estimating he heard a half-dozen to a dozen single shots.

Chicago police put the time of the shooting at around 1 a.m. They said the single victim, a 25-year-old man, was hit twice in the leg and taken to an area hospital where he was listed in stable condition.

“The danger in our city particularly around illegal guns continues to pose a threat to the streets of Chicago,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday afternoon at an unrelated press conference.

Some travelers inside the terminal said they didn’t know what was happening until they saw police. Raquel Barajas said she was sleeping just feet from where a bullet hit a window.

“These Dollar Tree earplugs work really well, because I have no clue how I did not hear this,” she said. “When I woke up and saw all the cops, I was terrified. …. I’m honestly just really grateful to be alive right now.”

Lower level access to the Terminal 2 arrivals area was closed during the initial police investigation, but all traffic lanes were reopened by about 5 a.m.

Police said a person was interviewed by detectives, but no one was in custody as of Wednesday afternoon.

WGN has reached out to the Chicago Department of Aviation for comment but has not received a response.