Standoff Ensues After Officer Is Hit In Knee When Suspect Opens Fire Near Washington Park, 2 Being Questioned
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An officer was wounded in the knee when a suspect police were pursuing fired shots near Washington Park Monday evening, police said.
After a two-hour standoff, two people were being questioned, police said.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, there was a search from the air and the ground Monday night as officers focused on an apartment near 50th Street and Vincennes Avenue in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood.
Police dogs were on alert as a SWAT team entered the building.
"He is known for his criminal activity by the Second District, and they've identified him as such," said Chicago Police Chief of Operations Fred Waller.
Police said at 6:29 p.m., officers were in the 5000 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive near the northwest corner of Washington Park, when they tried to stop a known suspect who was wanted for an aggravated assault with a handgun that had happened Wednesday in the 5000 block of South Washington Park Court.
When officers came up, the suspect took out a gun and fired shots at them, striking one officer in the right knee.
"As the officers approached the suspect, he produced a firearm and fired several shots at officers, striking one of the officers in knee with a non-life-threatening injury," Waller said.
A source described the officer's wound as a graze wound to the knee, and said the bullet might have ricocheted before striking the officer.
The officer was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.
Meanwhile, police set up a perimeter as the suspect tried getting away.
A CPD officer backed up De Mar and his crew, saying: "Guy with a gun! Move back!"
Police knew who they were looking for, and after more than two hours, they search appeared to be over.
Police remained on the scene, with an armored vehicle present, as of 10 p.m.
Police said two people were being questioned late Monday. They originally said the suspect who shot at police was caught, but it was not clear what the involvement or role of the two people being questioned was.