A Chicago police officer and a security guard were both shot Thursday evening during an altercation with an accused shoplifter outside a Home Depot store on the city’s South Side, according to reports.
All three were taken to a hospital where the suspect died of his wounds, FOX 32 of Chicago reported.
The security guard was in “grave” condition while the police officer, who was shot in a shoulder, was expected to recover, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said.
The guard was shot in the head, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The suspect allegedly shot the security guard after being confronted about shoplifting at the store. The officer was then allegedly shot “almost immediately” after police started to pursue the suspect as he fled the scene, Brown told reporters. The suspect was shot in a shootout with police after the officer was shot.
CHICAGO CRIME: 25 SHOT, INCLUDING 10-YEAR-OLD BOY AND POLICE OFFICER, DURING WEEKEND BLOODSHED
Brown said the officer seemed in “good spirits” but added that “being shot is no light thing.”
“This is the fourth officer shot in two weeks,” Brown said emphatically. “I get questions all the time about what is the department doing about violence, what are we doing about the shootings, what are we doing about the homicides? What we are doing is risking our lives every day to protect this city. That’s what we’re doing. And the brave, courageous men and women of the Chicago Police Department are unmatched.”
“What are we doing about the homicides? What we are doing is risking our lives every day to protect this city. That’s what we’re doing.”
Brown said it seems like offenders in Chicago are acting with “impunity” because of a lack of respect for law enforcement, “and yet with hypercriticism, officers continue to run toward danger,” he added, noting the officer killed in Boulder’s mass shooting on Monday.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the department said, “The entire Chicago Police Department breathes a collective sigh of relief tonight as our injured officer is released from the hospital after being shot in the line of duty.” A video in the tweet showed the unnamed officer being taken out of a hospital in a wheelchair and placed in a waiting car.
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Most recently, another Chicago officer suffered a graze wound to the chin on Saturday but was expected to recover, according to FOX 32.