Police: Employee Intentionally Set Fire At Chicago Air Traffic Site

This photo from video provided courtesy of WMAQ-TV in Chicago shows air travelers wheeling their luggage toward Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Tuesday, July 1, 2014, after sudden rains flooded the Kennedy Exp... This photo from video provided courtesy of WMAQ-TV in Chicago shows air travelers wheeling their luggage toward Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Tuesday, July 1, 2014, after sudden rains flooded the Kennedy Expressway, a major thoroughfare that runs to the airport. Desperate travelers were forced to get out of taxis and haul their luggage the rest of the way to the airport. (AP Photo/Courtesy of WMAQ-TV Chicago) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

CHICAGO (AP) — A fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control facility that shut down the city’s two airports Friday was intentionally set by a contract employee, police said.

The early morning fire forced the evacuation of the control center in Aurora, about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. Emergency crews found a man in the basement with a self-inflicted wound and took him to a hospital.

The man was a contract employee of the Federal Aviation Administration, said Aurora Police Chief Gregory Thomas. He said it was not a terrorist act and that the investigation was being run by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police and fire departments.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: