CHICAGO — A birthday celebration turned violent, leading police to call in a SWAT team and shut down traffic on Ashland Avenue Friday morning.
Police are questioning three men who refused to leave a six-unit brownstone in the 1300 block of South Ashland Friday morning, touching off a barricade situation that shut down traffic on Ashland south of Roosevelt Road.
Police were responding to a domestic disturbance call when the men refused to come out of the building, authorities said.
After a SWAT team was called to the scene, the men came out with their hands up about 7 a.m.
Katiria Mendez said she and a few others were celebrating one of her friend's birthdays when the friend and her boyfriend began fighting about 2 a.m.
After the boyfriend hit his girlfriend in the face, she said she and the friend locked themselves in a bedroom with the friend's three children and called the police.
"We were locked in the room for a couple of hours," hiding from the boyfriend and two of his male friends, Mendez said. Another woman locked herself in a bathroom.
"We were scared they were going to hurt us."
One of the men said, "I'm going to kill you guys,' " Mendez said.
She said the women were in contact with police throughout the entire ordeal.
"We kept telling the police, 'Can you break the door down?' They said they couldn't," Mendez said.
Police wouldn't comment on whether the men were armed or were holding anyone hostage. No one was injured in the incident, police said.
The No. 9 Ashland bus was rerouted as a result of the incident and was running on Loomis Street between 15th Street and Roosevelt. The street was reopened to traffic at 8:20 a.m.
