ATF Officer Shot In Face On Chicago's South Side

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was shot and critically wounded overnight in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson had a direct message to the offenders on Friday: "Believe me you will not get away with this." Johnson ordered more special units in the neighborhood to ensure the safety of residents and find those responsible.

"We are coming for you," said Johnson, who said four officers have been shot in that neighborhood in the past year.

Authorities said Friday that there is now a $61,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Chicago Police say they were working on a joint operation with ATF when the officer was ambushed and shot in the face and the bullet exited through his cheekbone. The agent was taken to Stroger Hospital where is condition was stabilized. An ATF official said the officer is expected to fully recover.

A Chicago police officer returned fire but did not strike the offenders, police spokseman Anthony Gugleilmi said. Hundreds of officers are not assigned to the case. The gang who ambushed the officer may be the same gang that fired at a Chicago police van last year, he said.

The shooting happened around 3:20 a.m. in the 4400 block of South Hermitage, and the area around Davis Square Park has been sealed off with crime tape.

According to police radio traffic, the officer was driven to the hospital by fellow task force members who didn't want to wait for an ambulance.

Police haven't said what type of mission they were working on with the ATF.

Authorities are searching for the shooting and nobody is in custody.

A year ago, on May 3, two Chicago police officers were wounded in a shooting in the same neighborhood.

At the time, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said investigators believed the shooters used a high-powered weapon when they opened fire on two Deering District tactical officers near 43rd and Ashland as the officers were sitting in a surveillance van.

In February, a Chicago police officer shot and seriously wounded a suspect who pushed an officer while trying to flee a traffic stop.

Officers with the Area South Gang team were conducting a drug investigation in the 4200 block of South Ashland Avenue, when they pulled over a vehicle and told the people in the car to get out.

Officials said one of the suspects shoved a police officer, and then took off running. He made it as far as a nearby industrial park, where an officer who was chasing him fired his weapon multiple times, wounding the suspect.

Last June, Chicago Police and ATF announced a task force focused on cracking down on illegal gun trafficking and getting repeat gun offenders off the stret.