A Cook County correctional officer was shot and wounded on his way home from work. (WGN TV video)
At least 11 people were shot and wounded across Chicago Monday night and Tuesday morning, including five people in front of a currency exchange and an off-duty Cook County corrections officer on his way home from work, officials said.
The officer, a seven-year veteran, had just finished his shift and was driving his Jaguar north on Interstate 57 around 2 a.m. when he suspected he was being followed, according to Sheriff Tom Dart. He pulled off the expressway in the 9500 block of South State Street and a car followed him, Dart said.
The car pulled alongside the Jaguar and someone inside pulled a hoodie over his head and began firing at the officer, who was still his car, according to sheriff's spokesman Frank Bilecki. It was not known what, if anything, the gunman said to the officer.
“He was shot once in the back, once in the jaw and four times in his arm and shoulder area,’’ Bilecki said. “It’s my understanding that it may have been an attempted carjacking. It was obviously a scary situation.''
The officer did not return back, said Bilecki, who said the officer is authorized to have a weapon but it was not known if he was carrying it at the time. His car is not equipped with a police radio, Bilecki added.
Bilecki said the officer was able to make several phone calls to family and authorities after being shot. “He sounds like superman to me,’’ Bilecki said.
The officer, whom Bilecki declined to name,was in surgery this morning at Stroger Hospital, where doctors were trying to repair his jaw.
The officer works in the minimum to medium security section of the Cook County Jail overseeing security of the detainees, said Bilecki. The officer also is in charge of making sure the prisoners are transported to and from their court destinations as well as receiving assistance programs. He has two sons, 11 and 15, and lives in the Chicagoland area, said Bilecki.
Bilecki said no arrests have been made.
Hours earlier, a woman and four men were struck by gunfire near a currency exchange in the South Shore neighborhood, police said. Several people were standing on the sidewalk when a gunman approached on foot and began firing, police said.
The victims ranged in age from 23 to 44 years old, and their conditions were stabilized at hospitals. Sources told WGN-Channel 9 that the shooting may have been retaliation for a gang fight that happened earlier Monday afternoon.
"Oh man, it's hellish around here," a neighbor said. "It's pretty bad."
During a separate incident, one of two armed robbery suspects was shot and wounded by an off-duty police officer from the Chicago State University Police Department, around 5 p.m. Monday in the 8700 block of South Luella Avenue, police said.
Two teens have been charged in the incident, according to police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez.
Kurtis Flowers, 17, of the 8900 block of South Essex Avenue, who was the alleged "lookout'' during the incident, was charged with felony armed robbery for the incident, according to police.
The gunman -- a 15-year-old boy who was shot and who is not being identified because he is a juvenile -- was charged with the same thing, according to Perez.
Flowers is expected to appear midday for a bond hearing on the charge, Perez said.
A supervisor for the campus police said the department would have no comment until later today.
According to a Chicago Police report, the officer was driving a 2001 gray Toyota Sequoia SUV and was with another man when they went to the Luella address where they planned to purchase a new iPhone after using Twitter to arrange a meeting with the seller.
When they arrived, a 15-year-old brandished a gun and shouted to the passenger: “Give me everything or I’ll blow it up,’’ before turning to the officer and ordering him to give him the keys to the SUV, the report said. Flowers was nearby, acting as a “lookout.’’
The motorist identified himself as a police officer and fired his weapon once at the two – hitting one of them – before the teens fled the scene with $150 and an iPhone, the report said.
A “flash message” was given out with their descriptions and they were both arrested shortly afterward.
The wounded teen was dropped off at Advocate Trinity Hospital and as he was being treated, authorities found a white iPhone 4 taken from the passenger and $150 on him, the report said.
The injured teen was placed under arrest and transferred to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. After his release, he was placed in a physical lineup and was identified by the victims, the report said.
Others shootings include:
-- A 41-year-old man was shot several times in the 500 block of East 75th Street around 3:30 a.m., Police News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said. The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and his condition was stabilized, Gaines said.
-- At 9:30 p.m. Monday, a 19-year-old man was shot while standing in the street in the 3900 block of West Lexington Avenue, Gaines said. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
-- About 8:55 p.m. Monday, a 19-year-old man was shot in both legs after being approached by three men while he stood in a driveway in the 9600 block of South Luella, Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. The man was taken to Stroger, where his condition was stabilized.
-- About 7 p.m. Monday, an 18-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 0-100 block of South Whipple Street, Alfaro said. He was taken to Mount Sinai, where he was listed in good condition.
asege@tribune.com
Twitter: @AdamSege
