CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer who was badly wounded during a shootout with a gunman Wednesday evening on the Southwest Side succumbed to his injuries, officials said.
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown told reporters outside Mount Sinai Hospital the male officer, who was shot “multiple times,” had died. Brown did not identify the officer.
Initially, the officer was listed in “very critical” condition, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
As of about 7:45 p.m. several Chicago police officers had gathered outside the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The alleged offender, an 18-year-old man, was taken to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the upper body.
The officer had exchanged fire with him in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue, Brown said.
An officer could be heard screaming to a 911 dispatcher after a call of shots fired on the block came over to the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
”10-1! 10-1, officer down, officer down! ... I need an ambo, get an ambo — officer down!”
Officer Michelle Tannehill, a spokesperson for Chicago police, said public information officers were on the scene. Additionally, representatives from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability were also there, confirming at least one officer discharged their gun.
As of about 6:45 p.m., a portion of the street as blocked off with red police tape at West 51st Street.
Some nearby residents were seen hanging around in front of houses, while others saw the commotion while on their way home and quickly made their way inside. Others also stood across the intersection, watching everything unfold.
The shooting came on the heels of an announcement by Brown that he is resigning later this month.
The officer’s death was the first since Aug. 7, 2021, when Chicago police Officer Ella French, 29, was shot and killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop in the West Englewood neighborhood. French was the first Chicago police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty since Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019.
Two brothers were charged in connection with French’s murder: Emonte Morgan, then-21, was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and other charges. His brother, Eric Morgan, then 22, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as well as one count of obstructing justice. They are both awaiting trial.
Cmdr. Paul Bauer was fatally shot Feb. 13, 2018, after he chased Shomari Legghette and struggled to detain him. In October 2020, Legghette was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, for firing the shots that killed Bauer in a Thompson Center stairwell.
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(Chicago Tribune’s Paige Fry and Armando Sanchez contributed.)
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