- Credibility:
MORGAN PARK — Police are questioning a “person of interest” about the shooting of three undercover officers early Wednesday on the Southwest Side.
About 5:50 a.m., two agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a Chicago police officer were in an unmarked car on the northbound ramp for I-57 at 119th Street when someone on the street shot at them, Supt. David Brown said at a news conference.
All were undercover working on an unspecified investigation, Brown said. They suffered non life-threatening injuries. One ATF agent was shot in the hand, another was hit in the torso and arm area and the Chicago officer had a bullet graze the back of his head.
All three were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in “stable” condition and are being treated for their wounds, officials said.
The shooter or shooters were not in custody immediately following the incident, but police spokesman Tom Ahern tweeted that a person of interest was being interviewed Wednesday afternoon.
Kristen de Tineo, the special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Division for the ATF, described the wounded as “senior agents” and urged the public to keep them in their thoughts. She said more information will be released later.
Brown said this incident marks the 36th time a Chicago police officer has been shot or shot at in 2021.
“They’re risking everything to protect the people of Chicago,” Brown said. “No one would do what these officers do right now. This is a very challenging time to be in law enforcement, but they are rising to the challenge, doing all they can.”
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