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Off-Duty Officer Shoots Man Who Hit Him With Baseball Bat: Police

By Alex Nitkin | March 20, 2016 8:01am | Updated on March 20, 2016 12:19pm
 Police tape remained at the street corner where police said an off-duty officer shot a man wielding a baseball bat Saturday night.
Police tape remained at the street corner where police said an off-duty officer shot a man wielding a baseball bat Saturday night.
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DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin

BELMONT CRAGIN — An off-duty officer shot a man who repeatedly hit him with a baseball bat on the Northwest Side Saturday night, police said.

Around 10:30 p.m., the officer, 37, was walking in the 2800 block of North Monitor Avenue when he saw an "aggressive" man "holding his waistband area," according to a police statement issued early Sunday morning.

The officer identified himself and began "conducting a protective patdown" on the man, who then "called out to family members," the statement read.

A second man, 32, then emerged from a nearby house holding a baseball bat and walked up to the officer, who again identified himself, police said.

The man hit the officer "multiple times in the upper body," at which point the officer pulled out his gun and shot him multiple times, police said.

The man was brought to a nearby hospital, where he's "undergoing surgery," the statement read. The officer was also brought to a hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries.

Neighbors said they heard two gunshots Friday night, and police arrived minutes later.

Estanislao Garcia, who lives on the block, said he was surprised to see the commotion in his tranquil, suburban-style neighborhood.

"Sometimes there are some guys hanging out and drinking on the corner, but violence is something we really never see here," said Garcia, who added that he's lived in the neighborhood for 20 years.

The shooting is being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), police said.

Per the Police Department's new policy, the officer will be assigned to desk duty for 30 days while the investigation unfolds. 

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