Hostage situation ends in suburban Chicago; 2 suspects in custody

HARVEY, Ill. (KABC) -- The hostage situation at a home in Chicago's southern suburbs came to an end after a 20-hour standoff when two men were taken into police custody on Wednesday morning. No one was injured.

The final four hostages -- two girls, ages 6 and 12, and two adult women -- were escorted from the home in the small city of Harvey by heavily armed SWAT team members just minutes before the suspects were arrested at 9:30 a.m.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said officers were in constant contact with everyone inside the home overnight and throughout the morning.

"We'd been giving them opportunities for the last almost 24 hours to come out. We assured them no one was going to hurt them and tried everything conceivable to get them to understand that we weren't going away. This was going to be resolved. They nonetheless were not willing to come out," Dart said. "At this juncture, it was the prudent thing to do to enter the house and to secure the hostages to make sure they weren't being harmed. Things were getting more on the dicey side."

Police moved in the heavy equipment, knocked out the windows and doors to the back of the house, and sent in at least two dozen SWAT team members in full uniform.

"Once we had the first floor occupied, we were then able to rapidly move up to the second floor and enter the room where the hostages were being held, and we were able to get everybody down and secured and get the hostages out," Dart said.

The standoff started at 1 p.m. Tuesday when officers responded to call of a burglary in progress. Police said officers exchanged gunfire with the suspects, who then barricaded themselves inside the home.

Eight people -- six children and two adults -- were inside at the time. The children, who ranged in age from 1 to 12, were released first. Four boys -- two 1-year-olds, a 2-year-old and an 11-year-old -- were released Tuesday. The two girls, 6 and 12, and two women were released Wednesday morning.

One of the women, a nurse, had escorted the boys out on Tuesday. She had been in the home to care for the 2-year-old boy, who has health issues, when the suspects barricaded themselves inside. Officials have been calling her a hero throughout the ordeal.

No one was injured, police said, but the hostages were taken to hospitals to be checked out.

Two Harvey police officers were injured during the ordeal, but neither had life-threatening injuries. One officer was shot in the arm, and another officer was grazed by a bullet, also in the arm.

About 200 hundred officers from more than 20 agencies responded to the situation.