CHICAGO _ Three women suffered graze wounds when a gun accidentally went off in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Chicago hotel on Wacker Drive on Friday morning, according to Chicago police.
A guest was checking out when the gun fell out of his pocket and discharged in the second-floor lobby of the hotel at 150 E. Wacker around 10 a.m., police said.
The bullet struck the floor tile, sending fragments flying toward the women, according to Central District police Cmdr. Michael Pigott. Police sources said he picked the gun back up and pointed it at security guards before running away.
The women suffered minor injuries to their legs. Two of them were taken to Northwestern Hospital and the other was treated at the scene, officials said.
The guest, described only as a 24-year-old man, remained at large as of 11 a.m. Sources said a gun was later found on Lower Wacker that apparently belonged to him.
The sources said the guest had been smoking marijuana in a hotel room and had been escorted to the service desk when the gun dropped to the floor. The suspect has a criminal record that includes convictions for theft and burglary. He lives in the south suburbs.
"We are actively looking for him at this time," Pigott said. "We have his identification."
Rebecca Hickey, of Upland, Calif., was at the hotel for a school psychology conference. She said she was standing at the hotel's mezzanine level when she heard a "loud bang" and saw a young man running down the escalator.
"It sounded like something large fell," Hickey said, standing outside the hotel.
Hickey saw two people who appeared alert and talkative on stretchers.
Three construction workers said they didn't hear anything but saw three ambulances pull up and saw a woman wheeled out on a stretcher.
Two years ago, a man was shot to death inside a Hyatt Regency hotel at McCormick Place in the South Loop. Courtney Taylor was in a group of several men during a birthday party in the hotel lobby when someone pulled out a gun and fired, police said.
