Off-Duty Chicago Officer Shot, Seriously Wounded During Robbery Attempt

The officer took a through-and-through wound to the chest in shooting on the 7400 block of South Langley Avenue

An off-duty police officer was in "serious but stable" condition after being shot during a possible attempted robbery early Friday in Chicago's South Side Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.

"He was in great spirits. He was praising God that it wasn't his time yet," Felicia Warner, a cousin of the 41-year-old officer, said outside Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

The District 3 officer, whose name was not publicly released as of 5 a.m., was sitting in a vehicle in the 7400 block of South Langley Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. when he was approached by three males, Chicago Police Department First Deputy Superintendent Al Wysinger told reporters.

Sensing something was wrong, the officer began to drive away when he was shot once in the chest, Wysinger said.

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"He just knew that the guys were on something, and so his instincts just kicked in," said Warner.

The officer took a through-and-through wound to the chest and continued driving until he flagged down a marked squad car, which drove him to University of Chicago Medical Center. Once the officer’s condition had stabilized, he was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital, Wysinger said. He was "awake and alert" as of 3:15 a.m.

Marty Maloney, deputy director of police News Affairs, said the officer was listed in “serious but stable” condition.

No one was in custody as of 5 a.m., but officers were investigating.

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"Detectives are out there. We're going step-by-step, possibly door-by-door to see if anybody that lives in the community may have witnessed this, may have saw the direction the offenders may have fled in, and we're back-tracking to see if maybe they left any clues or dropped any items as they fled," Wysinger said.

The officer, who has been with the department for eight years and has received 22 departmental awards. He has three children.

Supt. Garry McCarthy, who normally speaks on officers injured, was out of town at a conference at the time of the shooting.

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