Gunman dead after shooting four in Chicago building

Friday, December 8th 2006, 5:24 pm

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) Four men, including the gunman, were killed Friday after a man opened fire and took a hostage on the top floor of a downtown skyscraper, police Superintendent Phil Cline said.

The shootings at the 38-story Citigroup Center, which also houses a train station, sent office workers fleeing and stranded rush hour commuters.

Cline said the gunman was armed with a snub-nose revolver, knife and hammer. The man shot four victims over "several minutes," Cline said. The fourth victim, a woman, was shot and survived, authorities said.

Police fired at the man, but it was unclear if that was what killed him. He was holding the hostage when police shot at him, but "he may have also shot himself," Cline said. Police said they won't know for sure until an autopsy is performed.

Cindy Penzick, secretary in a law firm on the 37th floor, said that after a co-worker told her she heard gunshots, a police officer with his gun drawn on their floor yelled at them to get out.

Penzick said she is usually calm, "But I have to tell you this was scary as hell."

People hurried down the escalators and ran from the skyscraper on the west side of downtown. Dozens of police cars and two fire trucks were in front of the building, where one person was seen being loaded onto an ambulance.

Keegan Greene, who works at Verizon Wireless on the first floor, was helping a customer when fire alarms began going off.

"One of the security guards came up to us and started saying, "Run, run, run, run, run!" Greene said.

Service on the Metra commuter line was suspended for more than an hour and area buses were diverted while the incident unfolded. Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said all Metra crew members had been locked into secure areas before train service resumed just after 5 p.m.