A gunman fled the scene after an Amazon employee was fatally shot Thursday morning at the company’s fulfillment center in west suburban Melrose Park.
Officers responded about 9:10 a.m. to a shooting at the Amazon facility’s parking garage in the 1800 block of 5th Avenue, a Melrose Park village spokesperson said. The parking garage is accessible only to employees, he said.
The staffer who was shot, identified as 27-year-old Travion R. Taylor, of the city's Austin neighborhood, who was taken to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead at 10:25 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The gunman fled the scene in a car, the spokesperson said. As of 4:30 p.m., the likely shooter had not been arrested.
About 60 employees were working at the facility at the time of the shooting, but no other injuries were reported. The shooting appeared to be a “personal dispute” and an “isolated incident,” the village spokesperson said.
Police recovered two shell casings at the scene, the village spokesperson said.
"This is a senseless tragedy," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with our employee's family, friends, and our team at our Melrose Park delivery station."
"Right now, our priority is supporting them. The delivery station has been deemed safe, and we've added additional security. We're supporting police as they investigate and defer to them for further details," the Amazon spokesperson said in the statement.
The West Suburban Major Crime Task Force, which comprises numerous police departments, is investigating.
The village spokesperson added that there is “zero reason to believe” the shooting is connected to a fatal incident that occurred less than an hour later roughly five miles away on the Eisenhower Expressway near Mannheim Road that shut down the expressway in both directions. That shutdown started just after 10 a.m. and continued into the afternoon rush hour.
