Gunman in downtown Chicago office shooting was high-ranking executive

The man who shot his boss before taking his own life in a downtown Chicago office building was a high-ranking executive of a technology company, officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Anthony DeFrances, 60, of Barrington, Ill., was pronounced dead at 10:44 a.m., a short time after he opened fire on the 17th floor of the Bank of America Building, according to a spokesperson for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said during an afternoon news conference that DeFrances was angry over being demoted and produced a firearm shortly after walking into a meeting with his company’s CEO.

There was a struggle, and DeFrances shot the CEO twice before turning the gun on himself, McCarthy said.

“Apparently he was despondent over the fact that he got demoted,” McCarthy said. “They’ve been undergoing a downsizing. They’ve demoted a number of people.”

The shooting took place in the offices of ArrowStream, a technology company, according to the medical examiner’s office.

ArrowStream’s CEO is Steven LaVoie, a 54-year-old married father of three, according to the company website. He previously worked in finance and food services management and holds a master’s degree from Yale and a bachelor’s from UC Berkeley.

LaVoie was in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago police said. He was shot once in the stomach and once in the head, according to McCarthy.

DeFrances was the company’s chief technology officer and had been with the company “virtually since its inception,” according to a profile on the company website. The 60-year-old is also married with three children, according to the website.

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