Jan. 22--An off-duty Cook County sheriff's officer exchanged gunfire with two robbers in an alley in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the North Side overnight, according to police.
No one was injured and police continued to search for the robbers Thursday morning.
The off-duty officer told police he was in the 1900 block of West Belmont Avenue when two masked men approached him and announced a robbery around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to police spokesman Officer Hector Alfaro.
One of the suspects then fired his weapon and the officer returned gunfire, Alfaro said. The two robbers fled with the officer's cellphone and an unknown amount of money, Alfaro said.
Police blocked off an alley and about half a block of a sidewalk along North Wolcott Avenue with yellow police tape early Thursday.
Inside the crime scene, at least six markers lay on the ground, indicating evidence such as shell casings. One marker lay next to what appeared to be blood on the sidewalk.
But as of early Thursday, no injuries were reported, Alfaro said.
Investigators shone flashlights on the ground and checked surveillance cameras. One investigator sifted through a blue garbage can in the alley.
Some officers examined one of the windows of an elementary school across the street from the crime scene that appeared to be shattered by a stray bullet.
