2 Chicago police officers shot while dispersing West Side crowd
CHICAGO - A Chicago police commander and a sergeant were shot and wounded early Monday while dispersing a crowd on the West Side.
The officers were hit when someone on foot fired at the crowd around 1:30 a.m. in the 100 block of North Long Avenue, Chicago police said.
The commander was struck in the foot and the sergeant was grazed in the upper thigh, according to police.
Both officers were transported to Stroger Hospital. The shooter has not been located, police said.
CPD spokesman Tom Ahern said 33 Chicago police officers have been shot at or struck by gunfire this year.
Chicago Police have been busy all weekend responding to reports at crowds gathering in addition to investigating at least 42 shootings over the July 4th weekend.
There have been more than 90 people shot since Friday night, which includes 16 fatalities.
Two of the wounded are girls, ages 5 and 6, injured in two separate shootings on the South Side.
At Stroger Hospital, CPD Supt. David Brown checked on the officers and gave a quick news conference. He said the two suffered non-life threatening injuries.
"There’s been a lot of large crowd gatherings tonight, a lot of celebratory fireworks going off, kind of spontaneous," Brown said. "They were dispersing a crowd when they heard shots and felt pain."
It wasn’t immediately known whether the officers were targeted or if they were struck by random shots.
Brown also commented about crowds of teenagers creating chaos downtown, saying thousands of teenagers gathered Sunday at Millennium Park.
Police made 61 arrests and two officers were injured.
Sun-Times Media Wire and Associated Press contributed to this report.