Chicago police shot and wounded a man they said fired on officers Saturday in the city’s South Shore neighborhood.
No officers were injured when they engaged in a shootout with the injured man, interim police Superintendent Fred Waller told reporters at the scene.
“We dodged a huge bullet. And I say that with no play on words,” Waller said at a news conference late Saturday night, adding that bullets hit a nearby home.
Officers were conducting a narcotics investigation around 6:45 p.m. in the 2400 block of East 72nd Street when the subject of the investigation ran from police, the superintendent said.
“After a short foot chase, he turned and fired at the officers. The officers returned fire and shot him in the left flank,” Waller said. Paramedics took the wounded man to University of Chicago Hospital, a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson said.
Waller said the man police shot suffered critical injuries, but added that the man’s condition stabilized after surgery. The superintendent visited the involved officers at the hospital as well and reported they were in good condition.
Answering a question about apparent community hostility at the scene after the shooting, Waller said the department “had a clear view of what happened.” The subject turned and shot at police before the officers returned fire, he said.
Police recovered the man’s firearm and the rounds he fired, as well as narcotics, Waller said. The shooting was captured on body camera video, he added.
A police squad car responding to the shooting flipped over, Waller said. The officer was hospitalized and was in fair condition with reported soreness, Waller said.
Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability confirmed the shooting earlier Saturday evening, asking witnesses to share information in a tweet.
Police activity in South Shore halted inbound and outbound service on the Metra Electric South Chicago train line, Metra officials wrote in a tweet. Service was restored around 8:45 p.m., but intermittent delays continued, the agency said.