Summer evenings in southwest Hinsdale are usually fairly quiet, so residents near the corner of Sixth and Adams streets got quite a surprise last night when two local police officers blocked off the intersection around 6:00 p.m.
The officers, who were clearly armed with rifles, instructed residents to stay in their homes after .
The report turned out to be a hoax, as officers found no evidence of any gunfire in the area.
Residents were initially confused by the commotion, as information was scarce and changed often. Kitty Burns, of 614 Adams St., was first alerted to the incident when her neighbor called to tell her that the police were blockading the street.
"My neighbor said the cops were screaming at her to get back in her house [when she tried to leave]," Burns said, "so I stayed in my house so I wouldn't get yelled at by the police, too."
Once the officers moved from the corner of Sixth and Adams, closer to the site of the incident, Burns and other neighbors gathered on their block to make sense of the event.
Lisa Pollard, who also lives on Adams, was alerted to the situation by Burns through a text message. Pollard, who was with her son at a doctor's appointment at the time, was initially told that someone had been shot.
"I didn't want to go home at first," Pollard said. "And when I did come home, it was pandemonium. Kids were running around, and there were lots of rumors."
Teri Zeidel also experienced the quickly changing information surrounding the incident. Zeidel, who lives near Seventh and Bodin, left her house just before 6 p.m. to go to a doctor's appointment. She noticed two police cars with their lights turned on as she drove north on Bodin.
"I thought someone got pulled over," Zeidel said. "When I came back at 6:30, I saw my friend at the corner of Sixth and Bodin, and she told me she had heard it was some kind of drug bust. Then someone else told us it was a drug bust and guns were involved."
Soon after, Zeidel took her dog for a walk down Adams to see if she could get some answers, but neighbors were still confused and hearing conflicting information.
Once the police had moved from Sixth and Adams and allowed residents to leave their houses, people from all over the neighborhood began to try to get closer to the scene. Teenagers in cars and children on bikes were circling the area, while commuters walking home from the West Hinsdale train station ran into half a dozen police cars at Sixth and Quincy.
Soon, news helicopters were circling the area and eventually reporters from the Chicago-area TV networks arrived at the scene.
Despite all the excitement, police eventually learned that the hostage situation was a false alarm, though some residents still aren't sure exactly what happened in their neighborhood.
No matter the end result, the incident definitely made an impact on Hinsdale residents.
"It's the biggest thing ever in the neighborhood," Burns said.
