CHICAGO, IL – Police in Chicago are searching for a suspect who appears to have pointed a firearm [1] directly at a news crew engaged in a live broadcast that was centered around, ironically, rising crime in the area.
The troubling incident occurred at approximately 7:00 a.m. on May 25th at the corner of Clark and Hubbard in Chicago while a local FOX 32 news crew [2] were in the midst of a report regarding gun violence impacting the city.
News correspondent Joanie Lum was delivering her lines to the camera, seemingly oblivious to the black male adorned in a black hoody walking behind her as the film was rolling, pointing what appears to be a firearm directly at the camera as he walked by.
The suspect continued walking down the street thereafter, jumping a bit as he distanced himself from the news crew while waiving the suspected firearm and some other unknown object along the way.
Unsurprisingly, viewers of the live broadcast began phoning into the FOX 32 station about what they’d just witnessed [3].
Chicago Police have officially named the individual as a person of interest in what is being investigated as an aggravated assault with a firearm. However, authorities have yet to identify the male seen in the video.
According to a report from CWB Chicago [4], police in the area had responded to an incident minutes before the gun fiasco with the news crew involving a man fitting the same description causing a disturbance at a Starbucks on the 500 block of North State.
While it is unclear whether the two persons are the same, the suspect seen in the FOX 32 broadcast was carrying what appeared to be a Starbucks coffee cup during the incident involving the news crew.
Anita Padilla, one of Lum’s colleagues at FOX 32, took to Twitter regarding the incident, responding to an inquiry about what exactly happened.
“It happened to [Joanie Lum] and her [photographer] at 7:06am. The gun was one foot from her head as he pointed at the camera or cameraman Gary. She is understandably shaken. Thank God she is okay.”
Lum also seemed to be in good spirits following the incident, taking to Twitter herself several hours after the debacle and referring to it having been an “eventful day” that called for a little bit of some comfort food.
“After an eventful day the question was cake or beer? I chose cake. Was I wrong?”
The local FOX 32 outlet issued a statement thanking all the concerned locals for reaching out, writing, “Thank you to the viewers who were watching Good Day Chicago and called or emailed to make sure our crew was okay.”
The at large suspect is estimated to be between the ages of 18 and 25-years-old, standing around 5’6” to 5’8” in height. Anyone with information on the suspect’s identity or potential whereabouts are urged to contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8261. Tipsters are asked to reference the case number is JF-259784 when calling in.