The Aurora Police Department said the gunman had been taken into custody. The Kane County Coroner’s Office said it was responding to the scene and that more than one person had died. Officials said the police officers who were injured were in stable condition.
Several area hospitals were prepared to receive the injured, authorities said, though it was not yet clear how many people were injured. One hospital, Rush Copley, said it was treating two patients for injuries that were not life-threatening.
Video from a local television station’s helicopter showed a large police response outside a large, brown industrial facility. Local schools told students to shelter in place for a period of more than an hour; the lockdown was lifted after the gunman was in custody, officials said. Still, officers could be seen searching through the industrial area in small groups, as the investigation continued.
John Probst, a Henry Pratt employee who was in the building at the time of the shooting, told ABC 7 Chicago he recognized the gunman as a co-worker.
He said he saw the gunman “running down the aisle” with a pistol that had a green laser attached to it.
He saw one person who was shot and “was bleeding pretty bad.” He believed there were others who had been shot in the office. He said he and another co-worker ran out the back door, and heard more shots once he was outside.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were among those responding to the scene in Aurora, a city of about 200,000 residents about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago.
By late afternoon, political leaders began posting messages on social media offering sympathy and support.
“I am monitoring the shooting in Aurora and encourage all residents to follow the directives of their local law enforcement,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.