CHICAGO — An off-duty corrections officer was shot in Washington Heights and five people were wounded in a South Shore shooting as gunfire erupted across Chicago overnight, authorities said.
They are among at least 11 people shot overnight across the city, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Four men and a woman were injured after a man open fired on a group outside a South Shore currency exchange Monday evening, police said.
A gunman walked up to a group of people outside the currency exchange near East 75th Street and South Exchange Avenue about 5:45 p.m. and open fired, police said.
The 38-year-old female victim suffered a shot to the buttocks and was taken to Stroger Hospital, police said. A 29-year-old male took shots to the groin and thigh and also was taken to Stroger, according to police. Another 29-year-old man was shot in the foot and taken to South Shore Hospital. A 44-year-old man was shot in the lower part of his body and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, along with a 23-year-old male, who was shot in the back.
No suspects are in custody, police said.
An off-duty Cook County corrections officer was shot after he got off Interstate 57 near Halsted when he thought he was being followed, authorities said.
About 2 a.m., the 34-year-old man turned onto South Halsted Street and headed north when the suspect pulled up alongside him and fired shots into the vehicle before fleeing, according to police. The officer suffered a gunshot wound to the back, four shots to the shoulder and one to the jaw, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
The victim, a seven-year veteran of the Cook County Sheriff's Office and father of two sons, called police and was taken to Stroger Hospital, authorities said. He's currently resting at the hospital, according to the sheriff's office. Authorities did not offer a motive for the shooting Tuesday morning and did not confirm whether the officer worked a shift that night.
The violence continued into Tuesday morning, when a 41-year-old man was shot in the 500 block of East 75th Street, police said. The man was shot several times and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in "stable" condition. No further details were available early Tuesday.
During a Sunday news conference, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy briefly addressed the recent spike in shootings that left eight dead and at least 26 wounded over the weekend.
McCarthy said spikes and dips in crime will happen and that it's important to look at the long term.
"The whole issue is whether or not the trend line is moving in the right direction, and it is," McCarthy said.
The mayor emphasized that community-building is just as important as police on the street.
"A piece of this is about values," Emanuel said. "That’s why we’re going to be putting these resources to building up the community."
