A Chicago man recently demoted in a downsizing shot his company's CEO Thursday morning, critically wounding the man, and then fatally shot himself in front of 10 horrified witnesses, police said.
Both men were found with gunshot wounds to the head and lying on the floor inside the Bank of America building. The men were employees of the technology company ArrowStream, MyFoxChicago.com reported
The gunman, a 59-year-old executive at the company, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The CEO, who is identified on the company's website as Steven LaVoie, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
Police said the shooter was demoted last week and went into the workplace Thursday with a firearm.
The witnesses are being questioned by police.
Officers were called to the scene around 9:50 a.m. and found two men on the floor in an office, police spokesman Martin Maloney said. The office is in a building about two blocks from the Willis Tower, the country's second tallest skyscraper, and a block from the Chicago Board of Trade and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
No other details were immediately released about the shooting, but an officer came out of the building saying the situation was contained around 10:40 a.m.
Workers said they received emails from the building security at about 10 a.m. telling them there was a security situation in the lobby and to stay at their desks. A few minutes later, someone came over the intercom to tell them everything was clear.
"We didn't know what to think," said Jay Patel, who works on the 11th floor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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