Two Chicago police officers were shot early Sunday while trying to arrest a person with a gun during a traffic stop, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said.
According to officials, the officers approached the vehicle, which police said matched the description from a call about a person with a gun, at approximately 2:30 a.m. in the 3300 block of West Polk Street in the city's Homan Square neighborhood.
Brown said the officers saw a handgun next to a person in the backseat of the otherwise empty car. The officers commanded the person to get out, and he didn't, Brown said.
"The suspect does not comply with their command," Brown said during an early morning press conference with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. "Officers have to physically break the windows out of the car and get into a struggle with the suspect, who is in the vehicle, to get him out of the car."
During the struggle multiple shots were fired, according to Brown.
One of the officers remains in serious, but stable condition after they were shot in the lower chest and in the upper back. That officer suffered a serious injury to his lungs, and underwent surgery Sunday morning.
According to Chicago police, the surgery went well and the officer is recuperating.
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The second officer was shot in the chest and left shoulder, and is currently in fair condition.
The suspect involved was shot, likely by a third officer, authorities say. He was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where he is in fair-to-good condition.
Lightfoot said the officers' supervisor brought them to the hospital and likely saved their lives.
"This was another instance where our brave officers took someone off the street who had a very dangerous weapon and who could have been wreaking havoc in a neighborhood," Lightfoot said during the press conference.
"God’s grace was present tonight, she said, "and certainly it’s our prayer that these officers will return home safely to their families. But we need to be grateful in our city for the heroic sacrifices that these police officers make every single day."
The incident is being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability "with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department," Chicago Police News Affairs in a statement.
"When officers leave home, they never really know what the day holds, whether or not they’ll be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice," Brown said.
NBC 5 has not independently verified the reports of the incident from police.
