The injured were identified as a teller, a security guard and a customer at Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan. Two nearby schools were placed on lockdown as a precaution.

"I saw them there and police running this way, so I figured it was something to do with the school, so I thought I'd come down, get them out of school. But when I saw them turn here, I came up here and saw them roping off the area," Karl Jackson, a witness, told WLS-TV, Chicago.

Police said they are searching for three suspects who fled in a maroon, four-door sedan Buick Century with temporary Illinois plates.

WBBM-AM, Chicago, reported the FBI has posted a $50,000 reward. Investigators said the trio may have been involved at an earlier heist at a Cole Taylor bank branch. The report said the robbers were in the bank less than five minutes and got only a "small" amount of money.