3 dead, including gunman, in downtown shooting; Metra running again | Chicago Tribune

Police Supt. Phil Cline said the gunman entered an office on the 38th floor of the Citigroup Center office tower shortly before 3:15 p.m. armed with a snub-nose revolver, knife and hammer. He shot four people and was holding a hostage when police fired at him, but “before the offender died, he may have also shot himself, Cline said. 

Meanwhile, out in the far western fringes of Chicago:

Rockford man charged in alleged terror plot 

A 22-year-old Rockford man appeared in federal court in Chicago today, charged with plotting to set off hand grenades in a terror attack at a busy Rockford mall during the holiday season.

All in all, it was kind of a jarring and unsettling news day in Chicago. The Citigroup office tower is also the Metra train station, transportation hub for the entire region. This time of day, hundreds or thousands of people are cycling in and out of there. One of the supervisors at work was jangling a little, as she was meeting a friend downtown tonight and had planned to take the train, and meet him at the Metra station (the other main train station is Union Station, and some commuter lines go there).