A freight train robbery took place in Chicago on Friday and was surprisingly caught on camera.
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A large group of robbers can be seen raiding the freight cargo train in the video, which was caught by an ABC Chicago news helicopter. The ransacking took place on the west side of Chicago in the South Austin neighborhood.
According to CBS News, the looters attempted to steal items such as televisions and air fryers. Apparently this is a common occurrence, officials report, but is rarely ever caught on camera.
A witness of the looting said, “In all my years living on the West Side, I’ve never had an actual freight train parked over a viaduct where people are actually going into it.”
The video shows dozens of people stealing large boxes from the train and carrying them out to their cars. Officials can then be seen pulling up to the scene, just before cops begin to draw their guns.
It’s also been reported that officials feared a live shooting possibly occurring on camera and asked one of the news anchors to “break away”, or stop filming. The second news anchor supposedly ignored this request, instructing the cameraman to continue rolling.
The New York Post reports that no shots were fired, in addition to no arrests, but soon after officials left, more looters continued to ransack the freight train.
The robbery even caused Metra delays during rush hour, advising people to find alternate transportation. A spokesperson for Metra announced that delays could last several hours.
This is not the first time something like this has happened in Chicago. Another robbery took place in August that was very similar to this one, police say. A cargo train was broken into and ransacked, followed by several televisions being stolen.