An armed woman entered the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago on Wednesday, drawing a response from SWAT officers the day after former President Donald Trump’s criminal arraignment in New York.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that a woman was carrying a rifle as she entered the luxury mixed-use skyscraper around 11:25 a.m., citing anonymous sources.
Officers were called to a 27th-floor apartment the women went to after saying “she was tired of being abused by her husband,” according to police radio traffic reported by the Sun-Times. A Chicago police spokesperson said there was no threat to the public.
Footage of the extensive police response was published by LiveNOW from FOX.
ABC 7 Chicago reporter Maher Kawash posted photos of the “massive” law enforcement presence outside the building.
Kawash said at 1:48 p.m. local time that the incident was confined to one floor and police were letting some people back in the building.
“I’m told they’re still actively negotiating with a woman inside one of the apartments,” Kawash added.
A Trump Tower resident identified only as Steve described what he witnessed to local radio station WBBM.
“I was just doing some housework and some cooking, and I decided to take some fresh air. I came down to the lobby and I was quickly escorted away from the lobby, out of the building and was told not to come back until it was clear,” he said. “I asked several times what was going on and they wouldn’t acknowledge. But I would assume whatever was going on was serious.”
The incident came one day after Trump became the first former president to face criminal charges, facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Security had been boosted at the Manhattan Criminal Court for days before he surrendered to authorities and attended his arraignment there Tuesday.
