Chicago police shot and killed a suspect early this morning after the man and an accomplice drove their car into three officers on the 9100 block of South Halsted Street following a car chase.
The officers were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to Chicago police News Affairs.
The man, identified as Garfield Romel-King, 32, died on the scene. His alleged accomplice, a 19-year-old woman who was also shot, was treated and released from a local hospital, according to Chicago Police.
Police say the incident began shortly after midnight on the 7900 block of South Stony Island, where officers tried to pull the suspect over in a traffic stop. The suspect fled and a chase ensued.
The situation escalated at the intersection of 91st and Halsted in Chicago's Washington Heights neighborhood when the offender rammed his car into an assisting squad car causing injuries to the officers. The offender's car burst into flames upon impact.
Officers ordered the man to stop, but he put the car in reverse and slammed into another squad car, pinning an officer in the process. At this point officers, "fearing for their life," fired shots into the car, killing the driver, according to a release.
Onlookers described the scene differently.
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"They were going up and down chasing them and then next thing we know we heard a crash so we all started running that way," said Margaret Robinson, the suspect's cousin. "We noticed he was way away from his car so he must have jumped out and started running and it's like they shot him down."
Two of the three police officers were treated and released. The third officer remains in the hospital.
The shooting is still under investigation.
