Chicago — Two gunmen opened fire on an off-duty Chicago police officer in North Center on Sunday morning, according to a CPD source. The officer was not injured, and he did not fire back. An armed robbery occurred less than a mile away shortly after the incident, so detectives are working to see if there are links between the cases.
Regarding the shooting, a Chicago police spokesperson said a 54-year-old man was walking westbound in the 2200 block of West Montrose when two men stepped out of a dark-colored vehicle with handguns around 4:27 a.m.
The offenders fired shots toward the victim and ran into nearby Welles Park before getting picked up by the car, which headed south on Lincoln Avenue. Officers who responded to the scene said the off-duty cop pulled his gun out but did not fire any shots. Investigators found one of the offenders’ handguns lying next to the street.
CPD did not specifically say that the victim was an off-duty Chicago police officer, but documents reviewed by CWB Chicago show that he joined the force in 1997.
About ten minutes later, a man and woman were robbed in the 1900 block of West Byron, just off Lincoln Avenue. They were standing outside a dark-colored sedan when four men emerged from the vehicle with handguns, the police spokesperson said.
One of the gunmen hit the 22-year-old male victim in the head with a handgun as the group took the victims’ property, according to police. The woman, age 23, was not injured.
Area Three detectives are investigating both crimes.
Chicago police have been trying to get a handle on a month-long wave of armed robbery sprees, including one on Saturday morning. In that spree, armed men emerged from a white Hyundai Tuscon to rob 11 victims at gunpoint in about an hour, including a man in the 1900 block of West Montrose and another man in the 3600 block of North Lincoln.