Post-Game Analysis, Barricade-Style

A reader sent in this photo taken from the 4700 block of Broadway during the standoff. 
The lights of the many police vehicles make the Uptown Broadway Building's
windows appear to glow blue.  Eerily and deceptively beautiful.

Now that Monday evening's jangled nerves have settled down (well, mostly), here's a quick wrap-up.

• The sound of three gunshots that several readers reported hearing?  That happened when officers shot out some of the streetlights on Broadway, so there would be less glare on the windows of the building where their targets were holed up.  (We have been assured that the CPD promptly put in service requests with the City to have them fixed.)
• A reader took over 40 photos of the scene, including the staging area on Leland just east of Broadway.  They can be viewed here.
• The Tribune has a follow-up story that gives some further details:

At least three guns, including a rifle with a scope, and a bulletproof vest were found after a nearly six-hour standoff that shut down part of the CTA Red Line, officials said.

The standoff began Monday night as investigators sought to question four men about a slaying in South Bend, Ind. [...] Police recovered a .40-caliber handgun, a .45-caliber handgun, a 223 rifle with a scope and a bulletproof vest [...].

Authorities said the men had been sought by South Bend police for questioning about the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old man on Nov. 18.  Deitrich Perkins was shot while sitting in his car and then tried to flee but collapsed in a nearby lot.  You can read the entire article here.

• This story about the South Bend murder says that the suspect, charged with felony murder and felony robbery, is Bryant Eugene Hunt of South Bend.  Our readers reported hearing the authorities, through bullhorns, asking to speak to "Brian Hunt."
• The Sun-Times' coverage is here.  Check out the photo gallery as well, including this photo of an armored truck entering the alley behind 4639 Broadway.

• CBS2 quotes, um, us in its coverage:  3 Held After Six-Hour Standoff In Uptown
• Fox Chicago:  Uptown Barricade Situation Ends Peacefully, Wilson CTA Station Reopened - Four alleged gang members arrested
• ABC7:   Weapons found in Uptown building after standoff
• WBEZ:   After six hours, three arrested in Chicago standoff that crippled Red Line service
• From the CTA:   A letter to CTA customers regarding service on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011

If you want to sign up for CTA service alerts, just in case, you can go to the CTA website.

To sign up for "reverse 911" notifications (called NotifyChicago), you can go to the OEMC website.

It was a rough night.   (Just sayin', "sharpshooters on the roof" is something we'll leave out of this year's Christmas letter; and we're so happy that WGN superstation led off its nationwide 9:00 news, which many of our out-of-area friends and relatives watch, with live coverage of the barricade story.)

Now that we have a little more insight into what was going on inside 4639 N Broadway -- three armed, wanted men barricaded inside, possibly including one charged with murder -- we're even more grateful that it didn't end the way we feared it would, with loss of life.  We hope we, and Uptown, never have to experience anything like it again.