CHICAGO — A demoted worker shot and critically wounded his company’s chief executive before fatally shooting himself Thursday inside a downtown high-rise office building in Chicago’s bustling financial district, police said.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said a worker at a technological company pulled a gun after entering the 17th-floor office to privately meet with the CEO. There was a struggle for the gun, and the CEO was shot in his head and abdomen before the gunman fatally shot himself, McCarthy said.
McCarthy said the company was downsizing and ‘‘a number of people,’’ including the alleged shooter, were being demoted. ‘‘Apparently he was despondent over the fact that he got demoted,’’ he said.
The alleged gunman was identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as 60-year-old Anthony DeFrances.
A man by the same name is listed as an executive on the website for ArrowStream, a supply-chain management technology company whose address is on the 17th floor of Bank of America building, where the shootings occurred.
The company’s chief executive is Steven LaVoie, according to the site.