Update 12:15 p.m. — CPD, which did not initially reveal that one of its canine officers witnessed the gunfire or that a gun was recovered, has updated its press statement:
On Sunday, October 3, 2021, at approximately 3:03 AM, a marked CPD K9 unit was stopped at a traffic light, when the officer heard gunshots and saw gunfire come from a Toyota Camry. The officer activated their emergency lights, called dispatch, and began to follow the Toyota Camry. The Toyota traveled westbound through the red traffic signal, striking a Nissan Rogue, causing a 37 year old female passenger of the Nissan to be ejected from the vehicle, who was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital where she was pronounced deceased. The offenders in the Toyota Camry fled on foot in an unknown direction. A weapon was recovered in the Toyota. No offender(s) in custody. Major Accidents and Area 3 Detectives are investigating.
The original CPD statement said:
A Toyota Camry and a black sedan were traveling westbound on Irving Park from Damen with the unidentified occupants of each car shooting at each other. The Toyota Camry then struck a Nissan Rogue causing the 37-year-old female passenger of the Nissan to be ejected from the vehicle. She was transported by the CFD to Illinois Masonic where she was pronounced deceased. The 27-year-old male driver of the Nissan was transported by the CFD to Illinois Masonic for observation but did not suffer any serious injuries. After the crash, the unknown number of occupants inside the Toyota fled the scene on foot and have not been located. The black sedan continued driving and left the scene. No one is in custody with Area Three detectives and Major Accidents investigating.
CWBChicago’s original report follows.
A rolling shoot-out between the occupants of two cars in North Center ended when one of the vehicles collided with an SUV, killing its female passenger and injuring its driver early Sunday, police said. All of the people who were involved in the shoot-out fled the scene, but one of their cars was left behind with a gun inside, according to a police report.
Dispatch records show a CPD canine officer saw the occupants of one car shooting at another as they sped westbound on Irving Park Road from Damen Avenue around 3:03 a.m. Police later said the occupants of a Toyota Camry and a black sedan were shooting at each other as they headed west on Irving.
Police said that the Camry struck a Nissan Rogue at Western Avenue, causing a 37-year-old woman to be ejected from the Rogue’s passenger seat. She was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center a short time later. The Rogue’s driver, a 27-year-old man, was taken to Masonic with injuries that are not life-threatening, police said. Police did not know which direction the Rogue was traveling when the Camry struck it.
The canine officer discovered the crash scene after the occupants of the Camry were gone. The black sedan, which may be an Infiniti, continued traveling after the Camry crashed, police said.
Investigators found shell casings at Irving and Damen and at Irving and Western. The occupants of the Toyota Camry, which is registered to a man who lives in south suburban Dolton, apparently fled in a Dodge Durango that stopped and picked them up after the crash. A gun was found inside the Camry, according to an officer at the scene.
Area Three detectives and CPD’s Major Accident Investigation Unit are handling the case.
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