Hinsdale Police closed down First Street Monday afternoon and asked several businesses to shelter in place until they were able to contain a potentially dangerous situation. (Jim Slonoff photo)
A potentially dangerous situation that closed down First Street for a time Monday afternoon was resolved without incident.
Hinsdale police received a call about 4 p.m. Monday from a man saying his relative from St. Charles was in the central business district and had a firearm in his car, Chief Brian King said.
Police located the car in front of Egg Harbor and saw the man reclined in his seat, despondent. Officers immediately closed down First Street and asked some of the businesses to shelter in place. Six department members were on the scene - including King - holding riot shields and with weapons drawn.
An attempt to talk to the man over the phone was unsuccessful, so an officer pulled a police car up next to him and started a conversation.
"He agreed to come out and they recovered the gun," King said. "It really had nothing to do with anything related to Hinsdale. He couldn't even intimate how he ended up in that location."
The handgun was in the back of the car and not near the driver, King noted. The man has been sent to have a mental health evaluation.
"It resolved itself relatively quickly and safely," King said. "It was just in a public place."
