Two Chicago police officers were shot and wounded early Friday by a gunman who dropped a handgun while waiting in line at a restaurant with one of the officers, picked it up, and opened fire, police said. The suspected gunman was captured nearby and the officers were taken to a hospital, Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern said on Twitter. Their injuries were described by police as non-life-threatening and they were listed in fair condition, police said, per the AP.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters the gunman fled following the shooting but was quickly caught by other officers. The shooting happened around 3:30am at the Original Maxwell Street hot dog stand on the city's West Side as the gunman and one of the officers waited in line, Brown said. "The offender had ordered his food and was in line in front of the officer," Brown said. "The offender reached in his pocket to pay for his order, [and] a gun fell out of the offender's waistband."
Brown continued: "The officer noticed the gun falling out, but before they could take action, the offender grabbed the gun, picked it up, and began immediately shooting at the officers." One officer was shot in the leg and the other had a graze wound to the head, and both were recovering, Brown said. Neither officer fired any shots, he said, and a weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered. The shooting comes amid a spate of incidents in which Chicago officers have been shot or targeted by gunfire. In 2020, 80 officers were shot at. Last year, 76 officers were fired upon, including 14 who were struck.
(More
police shooting stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
