An off-duty Cook County sheriff’s officer working security at a Gold Coast bar was among three men shot in a fight near a parking garage early Saturday on the Near North Side.
The shooting happened about 3:30 a.m. on State Street just north of Division, according to Chicago Police. It stemmed from a dispute over payment, a police source told the Chicago Sun-Times.
A 39-year-old man grazed in the head was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital along with a 33-year-old man shot in the leg, and a 30-year-old man shot in the back was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Fire officials said they all were in serious condition, but police said they had stabilized by mid-morning.
One of the victims is a courts deputy who was off duty, Cook County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said in an email. [[412040713, C]]
Two men in handcuffs were escorted into separate CPD squad cars at the scene. Police said a person of interest was being questioned.
A few dozen glassy-eyed revelers gawked from the sidewalk at the sea of emergency lights that came at the tail end of a night on the busy strip of bars and clubs.
A cabdriver who declined to give his name said he was driving north on State and making a left turn onto Division, when he heard four gunshots and saw a police officer get out of an SUV at the intersection, heading toward the commotion with his gun drawn.
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“After that, blue lights everywhere,” the cabdriver said of the police response.
He said it was the second shooting he had happened upon while driving early Saturday, after witnessing a fatal attack at a Goose Island gas station a mile away less than two hours earlier.
“You can’t get away from these shootings,” he said.
