Chicago police charge man who infiltrated SWAT training

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police filed eight felony counts Tuesday against a man who climbed five stories of a fire escape to infiltrate a police facility while officers were undergoing a SWAT training exercise.

Donald Patrick, 47, of Waukegan was charged with five counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer and three counts of burglary in the attack Monday at the facility in Homan Square on Chicago’s West Side. He’s due in bond court Wednesday.

It wasn’t clear whether Patrick had an attorney who might comment on the charges.

Patrick grabbed at least two guns before he was shot and wounded by an officer, police said. Patrick was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police Superintendent David Brown said the suspect was seen on video climbing the fire escape to the fifth floor, where a door had been propped open for ventilation because there are no windows.

Brown said investigators believe the man grabbed at least two guns from a table and pointed them at officers. He said the guns did not contain live ammunition — they were either empty or contained munitions, such as pellets that are used for training exercises. Pellets sting but do not cause serious injury or death.

Brown said he did not know if the man attempted to shoot any officers — mainly tactical officers assigned to specialized units and a few uniformed officers assigned to City Hall or to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home.

An officer who was not shot but suffered an ankle injury was in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital.

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