CHICAGO _ A Chicago police officer and multiple other people, including an apparent shooter, were wounded in an "active shooter" attack at Mercy Hospital on the city's Near South Side on Monday afternoon, authorities said.
The officer was critically injured in the shooting attack at and near the hospital, 2525 S. Michigan Ave., about 3:20 p.m. CST, a police spokesman said.
"He is in critical condition but receiving excellent care," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. "Please send your prayers."
There were "reports of multiple victims" in the attack, Guglielmi said in a tweet. Fewer than six people were believed shot, according to an official.
"At least one possible offender is shot," Guglielmi said in another tweet.
Fire officials called an Emergency Medical Services Plan III, sending at least 15 ambulances to the scene, because of an "active shooter" situation, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Erix Horton, who works in Environmental Services at the hospital, spoke to a Chicago Tribune reporter while outside smoking a cigarette after being inside the hospital when the shooting occurred.
"I was checking out, getting ready to leave," said Horton. "One of the nurses ran back here and it was like she was about to collapse and said (a staff member had) been shot. And she's like, 'Call the police. We have an active shooter.' And that�s when everybody took cover. They got on the PA, letting everybody know."
Horton said he took cover with others in the break room across from the ER, which has a combination lock, until police entered and escorted everyone out. A Fire Department crew that had just brought in a patient took cover in the room also, Horton said.
While in the break room, they could hear someone firing gunshots in the hallway, eight or nine of them, he said.
"We had to duck," he said.
"A lot was going through my mind," he said. "Make it home to see my wife and my kids.
"Everybody was just worried about the rest of our co-workers making it out safe," Horton said.
A hospital employee said she was in her office when a notice came over a public address system telling those in the hospital to lock their doors. They were later evacuated and people were put on Chicago Transit Authority buses as authorities dealt with the situation.
"I don't know what happened," she said as she was ushered onto a bus.
"They told us to run so we did," one hospital employee said.
Authorities were warning people to stay out of the area. Fire crews were at the scene.
