ROGERS PARK — An 80-year-old man using a walker was stabbed in the back outside a Five Guys burger restaurant next to the Loyola "L" stop in Rogers Park Wednesday evening, according to police and witnesses.
The incident occurred just before 6 p.m. in the 6500 block of North Sheridan Road, according to police.
The victim was taken to St. Francis Hospital in nearby Evanston. Police described his condition as "stable."
Rogers Park resident John Salinas said he and his fiancé were walking toward a southbound bus stop on Sheridan Road across the street from where the stabbing took place when they noticed a heavy police presence outside the restaurant.
Salinas said he saw the victim sitting on his walker near the scene and that he had been bandaged.
Photos taken by Salinas in the incident's aftermath show police huddled around what appeared to be a the instrument used in the attack lying on the sidewalk in front of the Five Guys at 6477 N. Sheridan Road. The diner is on the ground floor of the Morgan at Loyola Station building.
Witnesses described the item as either a screwdriver or knife.
Salinas said he was told by those who witnessed the incident the might have run off toward the Red Line.
Just after the stabbing, the CTA tweeted there were delays on southbound trains due to police activity at the Thorndale "L" stop, which is two stops south of Loyola.
By Wednesday evening, police said a person had been taken into custody.
