Vest Saves Chicago Police Officer

A Chicago Police officer who was shot on the Far South Side Friday afternoon was apparently saved by his bullet proof vest, authorities said. The officer was hospitalized after being shot at 4:35 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of West 103th Place in Roseland.

Two officers had responded to that location, where shots were reported earlier. When they arrived and went to the back of a home, shots were fired at them, striking one officer in the “vest and arm,” police said in a statement. He returned fire.

The 41-year-old officer, a 7-year veteran assigned to the Calumet District, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with non-life threatening injuries. Detectives were interviewing “persons of interest” and multiple weapons were found inside a residence on the block, police said.

“We’ve recovered a couple of weapons at this point and we are going to bring this case to closure,” Supt. Garry McCarthy told reporters outside the hospital Friday night.

One neighbor, who didn’t want to give her name, said the officer was shot in the gangway next to her home.
The woman said she was watching TV at the time.

“I heard two shots, and then I heard the policeman say, ‘Oh, s—,’” the woman said.