A 47-year-old Waukegan man is facing eight felony charges after gaining access to a Chicago Police Department facility and grabbing a gun before being shot by an officer during a SWAT training exercise Monday, according to officials.
Donald Patrick, of Waukegan, faces five felony counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer and three felony counts of burglary after the incident at CPD's Homan Square facility in the 3300 block of West Fillmore Street.
Police said Patrick gained access to the facility via an emergency exit and had grabbed the gun of an officer while a SWAT training exercise was being conducted, leading to widespread confusion on if the incident was part of the drill.
Patrick was shot by an officer during the incident and taken to Stroger Hospital with non life-threatening injuries and was later placed into custody.
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The incident was reported at around noon at CPD's Homan Square station, located at Homan Avenue and Grenshaw Street. According to Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, the unnamed offender was initially seen on video walking toward the police facility, where he approached a guard and asked where at the station he could go to retrieve personal property.
Instead of going where the guard directed, video shows the suspect walking in the opposite direction and approaching a fire escape staircase. He manages to pull the staircase down, climbs the stairs and goes to the fifth floor of the building, Brown stated.
There, he encountered a door that was propped open and entered a room where multiple guns were placed on a table for SWAT training, according to police. Officers watching the room saw the individual grab at least two guns off the table, and they in turn notified other officers, who weren't part of the training, to respond.
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As officers arrived, the offender pointed the weapons at them, at which point at least one officer fired shots, striking the suspect, authorities said. The suspect, who has yet to be identified, was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The guns the suspect grabbed weren't loaded with live ammunition at the time, but could have contained non-lethal training ammunition, according to police. It wasn't immediately clear if training ammunition was inside the guns, because the ammunition in question was being switched in and out of weapons throughout the session, Brown said.
As is protocol with police-involved shootings, the city of Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating.
