(CHICAGO) Three Chicago Police officers were shot during a drug investigation Monday night in the 3700 block of West Polk in the Homan Square neighborhood, authorities said.’
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said none of the officers had life-threatening injuries.
Just before 10 p.m., four officers were investigating suspected narcotics sales on the 3700 block of South Polk and saw a man and woman in a “known drug area,” Guglielmi said. The man ran into a dark gangway and opened fire at the officers, striking three of them, he said.
One officer returned fire and killed the man, Guglielmi said.
The three wounded officers were being treated at Stroger Hospital. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Escalante were expected to visit them Monday night.
In an emailed statement late Monday, Emanuel said: “Every day the dedicated men and women of the Chicago Police Department put themselves in danger so the rest of us can be safe. Tonight we were reminded of the dangers that our police face, and the bravery that they routinely display as three of our officers were shot in line of duty. The thoughts and prayers of our entire city are with the officers and their families during this difficult time.”
The shooting happened just a few blocks west of the police department’s organized crime headquarters. On Aug. 11, a 21-year-old man was shot and wounded on the same block, records show.
A woman who lives on the same block where the shootings occurred said she was watching TV when she heard about 15 gunshots. The woman, who didn’t want her name used, said she dropped to the floor and turned off the lights when she heard the gunfire. A short while later, she heard wailing sirens.
“It was a sea of blue lights,” she said.
She said she saw three ambulances leave the scene.
The woman said that while gunshots aren’t uncommon in the neighborhood, it had been “fairly quiet,” in recent months.
