Authorities say a Chicago police officer and a teenage bystander were wounded in a gun battle with an alleged bank robbery suspect, who was fatally shot in the stand-off on the city's Northwest Side Tuesday night.
The incident began as a bank robbery in suburban Des Plaines at around 4:30 p.m., according to police, who said officers responded to the scene and arrested one of two offenders who fled on foot. A second suspect evaded capture and later stole a couple’s car and drove into the city of Chicago, authorities said at a press conference Tuesday night.
The FBI along with Chicago and Des Plaines police tracked the suspect's whereabouts, officials said. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said that just before 7 p.m., officers waited for the suspect to exit the Kennedy Expressway at Irving Park Road.
Authorities said when the suspect realized he was being followed, he began firing at police vehicles, hitting one of the officers in the temple of his head. The 46-year-old officer, a 17-year veteran of the force, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was listed in "serious but stable" condition, officials said.
The police pursuit continued before ending at a music school located in the 4200 block of Irving Park Road in the city's Old Irving Park neighborhood, Johnson said.
“The offender and the Des Plaines police officer then exchanged gunfire,” Johnson said. “The 32-year-old offender was fatally shot in the exchange.”
The Cook County medical examiner's office could not immediately confirm the fatality and further details, including the suspect's identity, were not available.
A 15-year-old bystander, who was taking music lessons at the nearby store at the time, was shot in the arm and in the abdomen and taken to an area children’s hospital and was listed in stable condition, according to police.
The surgeon who treated the wounded officer said at a news conference that he received “more than a graze wound" in the shooting, correcting earlier reports. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi tweeted Tuesday night that imaging had revealed that the bullet "did penetrate and exit the officers skull," adding that his injuries were "more serious than preliminary diagnosis."
"He was fortunate. He does have a skull fracture, he does have blood on the brain. I would say he’s currently in serious but stable condition," Dr. Marius Katilius said. "The next 24 hours will be pivotal in the care."
“My wife and I are asking all Chicagoans to come together and pray for the officer who was shot this evening, as well as the young individual who was also shot in the crossfire,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
The FBI is currently investigating the bank robbery, while Des Plaines police are investigating the carjacking and the Chicago Police Department continues to investigate the shooting, officials said.
