2 Chicago police officers, suspect wounded in West Side shootout

CHICAGO - Two Chicago police officers were shot and the suspected shooter was wounded by police Sunday after a traffic stop in Homan Square on the West Side.

The shooting happened at 2:33 a.m. in the 3300 block of West Polk Street, according to Chicago police.

In a news conference outside Stroger Hospital Sunday morning, CPD Supt. David Brown said the officers conducted a traffic stop near Spaulding and Polk and spotted a gun in the vehicle. The officers broke the vehicle’s windows after the suspect, who appeared to have moved from the front seat to the back seat, refused to get out of the car. A struggle ensued.

During the struggle, the suspect shot one officer in the shoulder and one in the side, Brown said. A third officer returned fire and hit the suspect.

Brown said both officers who were shot were wearing body cameras and the footage is being reviewed.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised the officers’ supervisor for driving them to Stroger Hospital.

“Their supervisor brought them here and probably saved their lives,” Lightfoot said.

One officer was shot twice and was in serious condition, Dr. Hadyn Hollister said at the news conference. He is undergoing surgery Sunday morning. The other officer was shot once and was listed in good condition.

Both officers are men in their early 20s who have been on the job for two years, Brown said. They are part of the department’s summer mobile patrol unit.

The suspect was taken via ambulance to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood in critical condition, but has been stabilized, Chicago Fire Department officials said.

In a tweet Sunday morning, police spokesman Tom Ahern wrote that the suspect’s weapon was recovered at the scene and posted a photo of a handgun with an extended magazine.

Civilian Office of Police Accountability spokesman Ephraim Eaddy said COPA is investigating the shooting, but did not provide additional details Sunday morning.

In her remarks outside the hospital, Lightfoot referred to the recent movement to defund the police department but stressed the role of police in maintaining public safety.

“Now, there are some who would say we don’t need the police and safety can be accomplished through other means,” Lightfoot said. “I want to be clear-eyed that when we have this most-important discussion, we do it on the basis of facts and context.

“And I know having been around law enforcement for a very long time and been around the heroic men and women of the Chicago Police Department, the only people who are qualified based upon their training, supervision and courage to respond to a person with a gun … to respond when our residents are in danger, the only people qualified to do that are the police. So we should have that discussion, but let’s be clear-eyed about what the dangers are that not only exist for our residents, but also for law enforcement. “