3 Robbers, Clerk Shot In Robbery, Police Shootout On West Side
Updated 03/15/12 - 11:05 a.m.
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Three armed robbers and a store clerk were wounded in a shootout with police Wednesday night in the West Side Austin neighborhood.
Austin District police officers responded at 8:32 p.m. to the store robbery in progress in the 5100 block of West Lake Street, according to a police News Affairs statement.
When officers arrived, three armed suspects confronted them and pointed their weapons at them, prompting the officers to shoot, the statement said.
Police gunfire struck all three suspects, and they were taken to area hospitals in police custody, the statement said. A victim inside the store was also shot and taken to an area for treatment.
Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said that officers were responding to an anonymous call of masked men entering a beauty supply store. He said officers heard a shot inside the store and returned fire after they saw the three armed men coming out of the store, chased by a store clerk firing a gun.
Three people shot were transported in critical condition, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Will Knight said. Two people were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and a third person was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
Officials could not immediately say what condition the fourth person was in, or whether the store clerk was among those critically wounded.
Eric Muellenbach, spokesperson for the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates all police-involved shootings, confirmed that police fired shots at the scene.
No officers were hurt, and police seized two guns from the scene, the statement said.
The nearby Laramie Green Line "L" station was closed and the No. 57 Laramie bus was rerouted as police conducted their investigation, but normal service has resumed as of about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the CTA.
No charges have been filed as of Thursday morning.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
