Bulletproof Vest Saves Chicago Cop's Life In West Side Shooting

CHICAGO, IL — A Chicago police officer was wounded in the chest and the alleged shooter was shot multiple times during an incident Friday on the West Side, according to police. Although the shot hit him in "the center of his mass and could have been fatal," the officer only suffered "a very minor injury" because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, the emergency doctor treating him at Loyola University Medical Center said during a briefing Friday.

The shooting happened around 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 12, in the 4600 block of West Maypole Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, police said. The officer and his partner — both in plainclothes — were in the area on a "narcotic mission" when they noticed a man and woman acting suspicious, Superintendent Eddie Johnson said a Friday's briefing.

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As the officer exited the car to conduct a field interview, the man fled on foot, Johnson said. That's when the woman pulled out a handgun, turned to the officer and fired multiple shots, hitting the officer in the chest, Johnson said.

"Thank goodness his bulletproof vest stopped the round," he added.

Both officers then returned fire, and in the exchange, the woman was hit multiple times in the upper body, according to Johnson. She was taken to Stroger Hopsital and was in critical condition. Although the partner of the wounded officer wasn't shot, he was treated at Loyola for "anxiety reasons," Johnson said.

RELATED: 25 Shots Fired At Chicago Cops Mistaken For Gang Rivals: Prosecutors

Police are actively looking for the suspect who fled, and investigators did recover a handgun at the scene, Johnson added. The officers will be put on routine administrative duties for a period of 30 days as part of department policy, and the Independent Police Review Authority will investigate the incident, according to a police statement.

Chicago's top cop and the doctor who treated the wounded officer both expressed frustration at another example of gun violence against Chicago police.

"This is a public health epidemic that we need to address as a whole. … Our police officers — our finest — are being attacked, and this is not the way we should be living in a safe city," said Dr. Kristen Donaldson, an emergency medicine physician at Loyola who also is married to a Chicago cop.

Friday afternoon's shooting comes 10 days after a gunman with an assault rifle thought two Chicago plainclothes police officers in a unmarked conversion van were rival gang members and fired 25 shots at them the night of May 2 in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. One officer, 25, was hit in his left hip, upper left art and right side, and the other officer, 38, received cuts along his upper back. Both officers were released from the hospital the day after the shooting.

UPDATED (6:17 p.m. Friday, May 12)

Photo via Shutterstock

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