Man wanted on murder and armed robbery charges is in standoff with police at Chicago restaurant

A man who escaped from a Mississippi courthouse and is wanted on suspicion of murder and armed robbery stands in a standoff with police at a Chicago restaurant just steps from the Democratic National Convention

CHICAGO– A man who escaped from a Mississippi courthouse and is wanted for murder and armed robbery is clashing with police at a Chicago restaurant just steps from the Democratic National Convention.

Justin Zimmerman had been wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service since his escape in June and was found Tuesday at the Chicago restaurant, said Justin Smith, deputy chief of the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Zimmerman escaped from the circuit courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, where he was being held on attempted murder and armed robbery charges. He was also awaiting extradition to Houston, Texas, where he was charged with murder, the Marshals Service said.

It was not immediately clear how authorities tracked Zimmerman to Chicago, and there was no evidence of a connection to the Democratic National Convention. But the restaurant where he is believed to be holed up is about a half-mile from the United Center in Chicago, where the convention is being held.

Smith told reporters Tuesday that Zimmerman was “barricaded in that restaurant” and that authorities want to return him to Mississippi and “gather the remaining facts surrounding his escape.”