Officer Takes Own Life: Chicago Police 'Hearts Are Heavy'

CHICAGO, IL — An on-duty Chicago police officer took his own life Monday evening, according to officials. Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted just after 4:30 p.m. that a supervisor in the department's mass transit section was discovered unresponsive by other officers.

The officer was found unresponsive in his vehicle about 3:46 p.m. in the 0-100 block of North Des Plaines Street, police said. The officer was taken by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said he was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The news of the officer's death comes after tweets from various accounts reported an officer was down, in addition to reports of several officers spotted at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"Our hearts are heavy and deepest condolences are with his family and fellow officers tonight," Guglielmi tweeted, calling the death "devastating news."

RELATED: Chicago Police Officer Fatally Shoots Self In Squad Car

This tragedy comes almost two months after another Chicago police officer shot himself in the head in the parking lot of a South Side police station. The July death of Brandon Krueger, a 37-year-old narcotics unit member, was ruled a suicide.

Patch will continue updating this story as information becomes available.

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