Suspect Killed, 2 Officers Hurt In River North Shooting
Updated 02/23/11 - 10:59 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man was shot dead, a police officer was shot and a second officer suffered minor injuries Wednesday when shots rang out in the River North neighborhood.
Near North District police were investigating an aggressive panhandling about 4 p.m. when the combative person confronted them, according to a police News Affairs release.
The officers put took the suspect in custody and were driving him to the district station for processing when he produced a handgun near the 800 block of North Wells Street, the release said.
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The man fired the weapon, striking one of the officers. The officers exited the vehicle and returned fire.
The suspect was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said Fire Media Affairs Dir. Larry Langford.
Two police officers were transported to the same hospital, Langford said. One had been shot but is "doing well," and the second sustained a hand injury from flying glass.
As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, sources said a gunman began firing eight to ten random shots near the Moody Bible Institute at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Wells Street around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Police Supt. Jody Weis said the officers were responding to reports of an aggressive panhandler near that intersection, where they confronted the man.
A 44-year-old officer suffered a graze wound to his back. That officer has 16 years on the job.
His 60-year-old partner was injured by flying glass and was being treated for a minor hand injury, Weis said. He has 37 years on the job.
Emergency crews and detectives are still at the intersection, where an unmarked squad car was sitting against a light pole. Several of its windows —including the rear window and rear passenger-side window — were shattered.
The car is sitting just in front of the Moody Bible Institute. Spent shells are lying on the street, marked by evidence tags. All traffic is stopped.
Larry Lubell, owner of Urban Insurance Agency, heard what he thought was a car backfiring from his office window on the corner of Chicago and Wells.
"At first I thought people were pushing a car, then I realized it was an unmarked squad car. It was moving and police officers were jumping out," Lubell said.
Lubell snapped photos on his iPhone as the squad came to rest on the sidewalk and officers scattered.
"They were running north on Wells, trying to get out of harm's way ... and then they started running west on Chicago," Lubell said.
Witnesses said a series of shots rang out and then another series followed.
Kim Mehilos, out on a cigarette break from her coffee shop, said the shooting was between 3:50 and 4 p.m.
"I was on break outside having a cigarette. There were a bunch of shots — between eight and 10. No one seemed to be reacting," she said.
"There was one shot and then a pause and then another one. Then a series of shots, and it stopped. Then there was one or two more. I didn't think it was gunshots because no one on the street was reacting. But you can see now it clearly was a shooting," she said.
Investigators from the city's Independent Police Review Authority have been notified of the shooting and were heading to the scene, First Deputy Chief Administrator Mark Smith said.
The IPRA reviews all shootings that involve a police officer.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
