Aug. 16--Chicago police shot and wounded a man Saturday evening in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side.
Gresham District officers were conducting a traffic stop of a suspected stolen vehicle in the 7800 block of South King Drive around 7:45 p.m. when the driver reversed, hitting another vehicle, then accelerated toward the officers, according to a police statement.
As the vehicle approached them, the officers were boxed in between the suspect and traffic stopped at a red light. "In fear of their lives," one of the officers fired two shots at the vehicle, striking the driver, police said.
The driver, an adult male, was taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition, police and fire officials said. A Fire Department spokesman said the man was in serious-to-critical condition.
The passenger was arrested with a loaded firearm in his waistband, police said. Officials did not release the ages of the two males.
No other injuries were reported.
The shooting is being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority, said IPRA spokesman Larry Merritt.
A police union spokesman said he had not yet been notified of the shooting.
At the scene of the shooting, police officers cordoned off the intersection of 79th Street and South King Drive with yellow and red tape.
At the north edge of the scene, a handful of residents stopped at the yellow police tape and asked officers what happened and if they could pass through.
A woman who lives nearby said she was coming home from work when she saw police on her block.
"I'm just tired of all this violence. I'm tired of looking at it," the woman said, declining to be identified. "Enough is enough."
