Chicago Police Officer 'Ambushed' On City's Near West Side: Police

CHICAGO — Chicago police have a suspect in custody who officials said shot and seriously injured a Chicago police officer who was responding to a domestic dispute call on the city's Near West Side on Friday morning.

Police responded to the 1300 block of West Taylor Street just before 8:30 a.m. to respond to the call. Officers had just gotten off the elevator when they were fired at, police officials said in a news conference on Friday morning.

Police said an offender, who is a convicted felon, is in custody, police said. Police also said a gun has been recovered. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said the suspect knew what he was doing when he opened fire on the officers.

"They were ambushed," Brown said Friday. "This wasn't a matter of police tactics. They were ambushed, clearly. The offender had intentions to harm them."

Brown said the officer, a 15-year veteran of the force, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and is in serious condition after being shot in the torso and in the arm. Brown said on Friday that the department is not yet prepared to identify the officer.

Brown said that a University of Illinois-Chicago police officer was also on the scene after he was monitoring scanner traffic. The UIC officer was the one who rushed the CPD officer to the hospital, which likely resulted in saving the officer's life, Brown said Friday,

Brown said the offender, who had suffered injuries to his wrist, was in custody at the hospital and charges are pending.

"(This incident) highlights the bravery and courage that our officers exhibit every day," Brown said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot agreed.

"Every single day, on every watch, brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department put on their uniform, their badge and go out to protect each and every one of us," Lightfoot said at the news conference. "We have to remember that officers, every single day, are risking their lives for our safety and today underscores that."

Police said that there were two other people inside the home at the time of Friday's shooting but that they were not injured. Brown and Lightfoot said that in the past two years, there has been a large increase in domestic incidents of violence in Chicago.

Lightfoot said that fatal domestic shootings have increased by 125 percent since 2019 and non-fatal shootings in domestic disputes have increased by 80 percent over the past two years, Lightfoot said.

Such incidents place Chicago police officers in danger, the mayor said.

"You never know what happens until you get on the scene," Lightfoot said. "So we have to make sure that we are addressing this surge."

She added: "It is a huge public health and public safety issue which we are working diligently to address but we have a long way to go as a society in understanding the danger to people in the household, the dangers to our police, and the dangers to ordinary residents when domestic violence happens in the household."