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CBS 2's Mike Parker, Jay Levine, Vince Gerasole and Kris Habermehl, the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ― Police and the FBI are searching for the man who attempted to rob a bank in the Rogers Park neighborhood Thursday morning. Earlier reports that the suspect had barricaded himself inside were unfounded.

As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, of more than 150 bank robberies so far in 2007 in Chicago, this may have been the strangest, with hostages that never were held hostage, and a suspect who vanished into thin air.

What looked like a botched bank robbery turned hostage stand-off wasn't that at all. Chicago police and the FBI surrounded the bank for hours, with no one inside.

Acting Police Supt. Dana Starks said at 2 p.m., the First Commercial Bank, at 6945 N. Clark St., was secured, and all sweeps had been completed to ensure all customers and employees were out.

First reports, just after 9:45 a.m., told of at least one gunman holding hostages inside the bank. The call went out over police: "HBT! HBT!" for hostage barricade team. Scores of heavily armed police and FBI officers responded.

For more than two hours, the tension grew.

No one had seen the masked, scrub-suited gunman for more than four hours, when a security guard first saw him force his way in the back door.

Just before 2 p.m. SWAT teams inched their way toward the bank, then went inside, assisted by a police robot camera. They searched the bank's two floors and found nothing.

As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, the FBI said earlier that six hostages had been taken at some point during the standoff, which lasted more than three hours. But by the early afternoon, it was not clear that the people inside the bank were ever taken hostage during a robbery.

"It's not even clear that there ever were actually any hostages," said Ald. Joe Moore (49th). "There was a lot of confusion, people running in different directions."

In the confusion, investigators now believe, the would-be robber ran out along with frightening bank employees, well before police arrived and probably the way he came in – the back door.

There are no cameras at that back door, but there is one across the street at the school. That camera is pointed right at the alley the gunman used to enter and escape.

Investigators Thursday night are pouring over video from that camera and others nearby, hoping they captured images bank cameras did not.

From what is known, the masked gunman didn't leave many clues in the short time he was inside.
The lockdown lasted for hours, but investigators now believe the gunman was inside for two or three minutes, maybe even less.

Julie Kilzer, a Rogers Park restaurant owner who does business at the bank every day, watched anxiously as the scene unfolded.

"Ever seen we opened our restaurant nine years ago we've dealt with these people in the bank," she said. "And I'm just very concerned for their safety and just hope that this ends peacefully.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Grant said a bank robbery investigation was underway. He added that it was not known if the suspect had gotten away with any money, or if he had fired shots as some witnesses said.

The bank's guard says the gunman was apparently allowed to enter the bank through a security entrance.

In the confusion some of the three dozen people inside apparently ran from the building; others took refuge inside.

"There were people in the bank who went into hiding in different parts of the bank, not knowing if the gunman was still in there," Moore said. "But no one was held against their will by the gunman."

Police said 10 people were removed from the bank and taken to Newfield School, at 1707 W. Morse Ave. just east of Clark Street. The school was being used as a police command center.

Television footage showed police escorting several people who had been in the bank. The people had their hands on their heads and were frisked by officers, presumably to ensure the robber or robbers did not try to sneak out of the bank with the customers or employees.

A witness, Albert, said he saw employees leaving the bank around 10 a.m.

"Around 10 o'clock, I saw like around 10 employees come out. They were crying; one of them was crying," Albert said.

Newfield School and the Chicago Mathematics and Science Academy were placed on lockdown.

"The good news is it's always better to be looking for a bank robber, frankly, than having a hostage situation," Grant said.

The FBI said the robber had a gun, and that video surveillance tapes should help them find out who he is.

A woman who works in a business next door to the bank said she heard shots fired around 9:40 a.m., and that police told her and others nearby to stay in place.

At a bakery about two storefronts away from the bank, employees said they did not necessarily hear gunshots, but customers came in around 9:45 a.m. saying they thought they had heard shots.

"It was very confusing and shocking," said Cristina Santana, a waitress at La Cazuela Mexican restaurant across the street from the bank.

By the noon hour, a Hostage, Barricade and Terrorism Unit team and a heavy weapons truck had been sent in, and heavily-armed police officers had been sent into the bank to search for the gunman. He turned out not to be there.

The neighborhood was placed on lockdown for both businesses and residential areas. Rogers Park district police officers took positions in which they are using their squad cars as shields.

Clark Street was blocked off between Greenleaf Avenue and Pratt Boulevard, and both residents and people in businesses were told to stay inside.

The nearby Rogers Park Branch of the Chicago Public Library was also closed by order of police. A library spokeswoman said everyone inside was safe and calm. She could not say how many people were inside.

A no-fly zone was issued for the immediate area, because police did not want live pictures of movements around the bank, so as not to compromise tactical positions of officers with the Hostage, Barricade and Terrorism Team and the SWAT team.

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