Woman, 31, fatally stabbed in Loop attack, suspect sought

A 31-year-old woman died after being attacked by a man with a knife Saturday afternoon in the Loop.

The woman was walking about 4 p.m. in the 400 block of South Wacker Drive when a man stabbed her in her upper back, according to Chicago police.

They said she was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Police Supt. David Brown said investigators were reviewing police POD camera footage that might have recorded the suspect.

Brown said at least one witness was cooperating with investigators and that the surveillance video, although grainy, will help pursue the suspect.

“We are utilizing all of the resources that we have,” Brown told reporters near the crime scene.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Brown said the woman’s attacker was believed to be homeless and noted a nearby homeless encampment below the Interstate 290 overpass that is in the block. Brown said the suspect might have concealed himself in high vegetation where the woman was attacked and surprised her.

“This area is pretty secluded, going down this ramp is not a well-traveled area, it’s adjacent to a homeless encampment,” Brown said.

Police taped off an area on Van Buren Street where Upper Wacker Drive and Lower Wacker Drive meet. Detectives could be seen canvassing an adjacent park as well as a parking lot.

The attack happened about a block from Willis Tower in an area that is also close to the Old Chicago Main Post Office and Union Station.

During the week, Brown said, the area is busier than on weekends.

“The larger tourism and foot traffic is away from this area,” Brown said.

Brown declined to provide details about the victim, saying police were working to notify her family and determine what she was doing in the area.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not released her name.

“Crime is down downtown,” Brown said when asked what he would say to people to work in and visit the Loop. “Overall crime is down downtown. But one crime is too many. And we take every one of those crimes ... very seriously.”