A police officer was shot multiple times Sunday morning in a suburb of Chicago while investigating a car crash involving a stolen car, according to reports.
The Bedford Park Police Department arrested two suspects and recovered two guns, ABC 7 reported. The wounded officer was sent to the intensive care unit at the hospital where he is expected to recover, CBS News reported. (RELATED: Off-Duty Police Officer Robbed At Gunpoint)
Two people are in custody and charges are pending after a south suburban police officer was shot while investigating a stolen car. https://t.co/cxXN3om2fB
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) November 28, 2023
“I absolutely want to commend the responding officers who got there quickly, were able to put a tourniquet on that officer that likely saved his life, and were able to get them to the hospital quickly,” Joe Gamaldi, vice president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, told the outlet.
Gamaldi told the outlet that he blames officer shooting incidents on “inflammatory rhetoric towards” officers and a bad justice system that rewards rather than punishes criminals.
The incident started while police were investigating a car crash and found the wreckage of a car that was reported to be stolen from Chicago, ABC 7 reported. Police say that they obtained surveillance footage showing two people fleeing the wrecked car, the Chicago Sun Times reported. The two suspects then emerged from a grassy area at a nearby gas station and one of them refused to comply with police orders, the outlet noted.
A struggle ensued and the suspect fired several bullets into an officer, the outlet reported. No charges have officially been brought against the suspects at this time, ABC 7 reported.
“But, because of this incident people are afraid to come out so our business kind of suffered. The gas station suffered,” Maureen Votteler, a nearby restaurant manager, told ABC 7. “It’s scary, but hopefully, we’ll never see it again,” she added.