Chicago Officer Shot During Foot Pursuit
JEREMY GORNER AND PETER NICKEAS AND GRACE WONG ON APR 27, 2016
SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE
A Chicago police officer was shot in the shoulder as he and his partner chased three suspects down a street in the Little Village neighborhood Monday afternoon, authorities said.
The Ogden District officer, a nine-year veteran, was wounded around 4:15 p.m. in the 2300 block of South Trumbull Avenue, police said. The bullet went through his shoulder, according to a source. He was expected to be released Monday night from Stroger Hospital, according to Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
The officers had spotted three people on the street who looked suspicious, one of them possibly with a gun, and tried to stop them, Johnson said. The three took off running as the officers got out of their squad car, he said.
Speaking outside the hospital, Johnson said details on how the officer was shot were under investigation.
Officials said one of the suspects was arrested after the partner used a Taser on him in an alley between Trumbull and Homan avenues. The officer suffered a cut to the hand, apparently during the arrest.
A Hi-Point .45-caliber handgun was found at the scene and taken into evidence, a source said. Two suspects remained at large, said Johnson, who also confirmed a weapon was taken into evidence.
“This is an example of officers being proactive, doing what we want them to do in the right way and this happens to them, you know,” Johnson said. “Again, that just illustrates that we have too many guns out here on the streets of Chicago.”
Following the shooting, police closed a large area around the scene of the shooting, including 24th Street between Homan and Trumbull. A dozen detectives worked an alley near 24th and Trumbull. A police mobile command post was at the scene.
This is the fifth Chicago police officer wounded this year, the fourth while on duty. All the officers have survived their wounds.
One of the wounded officers returned fire on the gunman, 29-year-old Lamar Harris, killing him.
The following week, an off-duty officer was shot in front of his Far South Side home in the 10100 block of South Green Street when his attackers tried to rob him. The officer fired back, striking a 24-year-old man, who was later arrested and charged in the shooting.
An on-duty officer on an undercover mission was wounded by pellets from a BB gun near Madison Street and Cicero Avenue on the West Side on the night of April 15. A juvenile was charged in that incident.
Copyright 2016 – Chicago Tribune
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