CHICAGO – A Chicago police officer and two federal agents were shot early Wednesday near the Chicago Police Department’s Morgan Park District station on the Far South Side, officials said.
Three law enforcement officers were fired upon while they were in a vehicle on their way to conduct a joint investigation between Chicago police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Police Superintendent David Brown said Wednesday morning in a news conference outside Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
A male Chicago police officer and one male and one female agent from the ATF were shot on a northbound ramp to Interstate 57 from 119th Street, near the border between the Morgan Park and West Pullman neighborhoods when the shooting took place, Brown said..
Authorities were looking for a vehicle used in the shooting, according to state police.
The injured Chicago police officer was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center with a graze wound to the back of the head, Brown said. All three officers, including two Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “senior officers,” had their conditions stabilized at Christ Medical Center, Brown said.
The officers were conducting an undercover investigation with ATF when they were fired at on the onramp to Interstate 57 north near 119th Street. He did not provide further information on the joint investigation.
The three shot were among five law enforcement officers who were wounded in Chicago shootings this week. Early Monday, Chicago police Cmdr. Patrina Wines, who is in charge of the Austin patrol district, and a sergeant were shot in the 100 block of North Long Avenue on the West Side. Wines was shot in the foot and the sergeant was grazed in the leg; those officers’ injuries were not life-threatening.
“This is a very challenging time to be in law enforcement but they are rising to the challenge of doing all they can. And the work they do is extremely dangerous,” Brown said Wednesday morning.
A Fire Department spokesman said at 6:30 a.m. the scene was “fresh” and the shooting happened near the station, 1900 W. Monterey Ave. in Morgan Park.
Troopers were called to assist with the investigation at 6:03 a.m., so the shooting occurred before that time, said a trooper with the Chicago District of the state police.
“Normally we’d handle shootings on the expressway, so we’re deciding who’s going to lead the investigation,” he said.
The trooper said the agencies were looking for a white Chevrolet Impala, which was described as the suspect vehicle.
Paramedics with the Fire Department took the Chicago police officer with a graze wound to Christ Medical Center.
The two other law enforcement officials who were shot were either taken to area hospitals by other officers or in private vehicles. .
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