September 01, 2020 - 9:18 AM
Chicago police officers shot and fatally wounded a male suspect after their squad car was struck overnight by gunfire, police said Tuesday.
The “male offender" died after he was taken to Stroger Hospital late Monday in critical condition, police said. His name was not immediately released by authorities.
Officers were driving in their squad car about 10:45 p.m. responding to calls about a suspicious person when they saw five people standing on the sidewalk in the Pilsen neighbourhood on Chicago’s West Side, police said.
When the officers stopped and got out of their vehicle, shots were fired in their direction, hitting their squad car, and the officers returned fire, striking one male, Daniel O’Shea, Chicago's deputy police chief, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
No officer was injured, and police said the alleged shooter’s gun was recovered. Two other people were taken into custody, while the two others fled the scene on foot.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability will investigate and the officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days.
Monday’s shooting happened the same day that a 19-year-old man was charged in the weekend shooting of two Chicago officers. Jeffon Williams is charged with attempted first-degree murder and several other felonies in the early Sunday shooting.
One of the wounded officers has been released from the hospital, while the second remained hospitalized following surgery, prosecutors told a Cook County judge.
The judge ordered Williams, who was shot by a third officer and remained hospitalized Monday, held in lieu of a $10 million cash bail.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020