HVAC worker reportedly finds explosives at Lake Meadows apartment at 533 E 33rd Pl; Chicago police bomb squad responds

CHICAGO (WLS) — Police took one person into custody after suspicious materials were found at a South Side apartment on Monday morning.

Melissa Carraway, a contractor scheduled to service units in the Lake Meadows building at 533 East 33rd Place, apparently found the materials in question. The HVAC employee told ABC7 she found pretty clear red flags that needed to be reported to authorities.

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“I had the master key, and I went in there, and I came across a lot of things, and I was like, that don’t seem right,” Carraway said.

Carraway says residents get advanced notice that her company will be making the rounds and entering their units. When no one answered the door, she said, she let herself in.

“I came across some C4 explosives, a rifle, a lot of a lot of fake IDs, a lot of firemen stuff, a lot of police force stuff, and it just looked like it was fake, you know,” Carraway said.

Carraway says the discovery happened around 10 a.m. in a unit on the sixth floor. She was not sure what to do at first, but says she called police about a half hour later.

Video of the response shows law enforcement with ballistics shields and others with rifles. The entire building was evacuated with officers going door-to-door to tell residents they needed to leave.

“I was afraid because I didn’t know what was going on. So again, I’ve been out here since like 11:15, 11:30 and I still don’t have any information,” one resident said.

After several hours inside, CPD said its bomb unit cleared the scene as a precaution, determining the objects were safe and posed no threat. Police say someone was placed into custody on the scene, but no further information was provided.

“You know, the bombing that happened in New Orleans and in Vegas, so it kind of scared me, so I just wanted to call and check,” Carraway said.

The different law enforcement on the scene began to clear the building around 1:30 p.m.

People who live there trickled back into the building.

The explosives scare resulted with one person custody, but it is not clear how they are connected to what police discovered.

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