An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a burglary suspect after being wounded in the arm during a struggle near his home in Bucktown Monday morning, authorities said.
The officer, a 20-year veteran, was on his way home from work and still in his uniform around 3:30 a.m. when he saw a man trying to break into a home being built in the 1600 block of North Marshfield Avenue, according to Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
The 44-year-old officer identified himself and, noticing a screwdriver in the man's hand, pulled his gun and ordered the man to drop it, McCarthy said.
The man "came at" the officer and there was then a struggle over the officer's gun, McCarthy said.
"Not clear how he got shot, whether the gun got taken away from him and he got it back. Or whether or not it discharged while he was fighting with him," McCarthy said.
The officer regained control of his gun and, "in fear for his life," fired and struck the man, police said.
The officer was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where his condition was stabilized, officials said.
The suspect, identified only as a man in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:40 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. McCarthy said the man had a record of arrests in the area.
McCarthy visited the wounded officer at Stroger and said afterward that the officer was in "good spirits."
"He has some pretty significant injuries to his arm, as you can imagine," the superintendent said outside the emergency room. "He's in a lot of pain, but he's going to be okay.
"He obviously went through a traumatic event," McCarthy said. "He was struck in the left bicep. He may have some long-term problems with that. But he's in good spirits in the hospital. He's obviously upset about the incident and having to take somebody's life. But he's OK. What the long-term is going to show, I'm not positive."
McCarthy told reporters he knows the officer personally, describing him as a "hard-working, good officer" He said the officer is assigned to the Near North patrol district's entertainment detail, which oversees much of Chicago's nightlife in areas like downtown and Lincoln Park.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
