Chicago police officer shot in battle with bank robbery suspect

A Chicago Police officer was shot in the side of the head Tuesday night in a gun battle with a bank robbery suspect on Irving Park Road near the Kennedy Expressway.

Two others were also shot.

The shooting happened early Tuesday evening. Sources said it all started with a bank robbery in Des Plaines that led to a chase all the way to Irving Park Road near Kildare Avenue.

Sources told CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar that the suspected bank robber went into UpBeat Music and Arts music school, 4318 W. Irving Park Rd. Police went in after him, and shots were fired.

A 15-year-old boy was inside the music school and was caught in crossfire, sources said. It was not clear who fired the shot that wounded the 15-year-old boy.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi initially said the officer suffered a graze wound to the head and was responsive and talking at the hospital. But police later said the bullet penetrated the officer’s skull.

Police said the officer was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center by law enforcement. Guglielmi said Supt. Eddie Johnson has been notified and was headed to the hospital.

The 15-year-old boy was in critical condition at Lurie Children’s Hospital, while a 20-year-old man who was believed to be the suspected bank robber was also in critical condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic.

Guglielmi said the scene was extremely chaotic, and witnesses agreed.

Witness Bryan Lewis was on his way out of the nearby Irving Park YMCA when he came upon the gun battle in the street.

“I came out of the Y and I heard the police sirens and I saw a car in front and I heard a loud smack, I guess the police officers hit the back of the car, and I saw the guy get out and start shooting,” he said. “So I ducked and as I looked up I saw police officers hopping out with riot shields and assault rifles and they started chasing the guy I think into a store. And the guy kept shooting and they stopped and that was it.”

Witness Brian Deets was on a bus.

“I was on the bus right here about ready to get off at Kildare and the police started coming down the street, so the bus driver pulled over about middle of the block, and the next thing you know I hear ‘pop, pop,’ and I’m like, ‘That sounded like gunshots!’” he said. “So everybody was kind of getting down on the bus and the bus driver pulled up a little bit further and then he actually opened the door, and that’s when I got out and all the police cars were going down. There had to be at least 15 cars. And they’re running into the store across the street and it looked like someone was on the ground at that point.”

CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reported Chicago Police, Illinois State Police, and Des Plaines police all responded to the scene. The bank robbery that preceded the chase and shooting may have happened in Des Plaines.

Amanda Mohr and Lesley Manzo were at work nearby at a Potbelly sandwich shop, which had to close as police swarmed to the scene.

“We were just sitting at the shop at potbelly we were making sandwiches and we see 2 cop cars going down the one way and immediately they backed up really fast, and then 20 cop cars started speeding down Irving so we were all freaked out at that point, customers were asking us questions,” Mohr said. “I called the district manager to let her know what was happening and then we all started to go outside. Our business started closing in the same plaza that we’re in, so we were all freaked out by that.”

Mohr said a police officer told her what had happened.

“And then we talked to a cop and then we called 311 and they said there was a bank robbery in Des Plaines and the cop and the suspect came all the way over here and that the cop got shot in the head,” she said.

And that’s what we’ve heard so far, I heard he’s on foot he’s around here, so it’s really scary to be in a shop knowing there’s a suspect around us.

Another witness said the driver of a car that was being chased by the police and got out of the car and started shooting toward officers.

Police tape was extended between Kildare and Lowell avenues. A major police presence was also seen at Advocate Illinois Masonic.