Police fired shots at train burglary suspects who plowed into police officers and their cars early Wednesday in Englewood, leaving two suspects and five officers hospitalized during an incident that also involved a pursuit, according to officials.
At least one person was still being sought after the incident that unfolded at 5:05 a.m. as officers were conducting a burglary investigation. They were alerted to multiple people taking items from railcars in the 5800 block of South Princeton Avenue, Chicago police said.
As officers approached, people who matched the description of the thieves “accelerated rapidly” in an SUV and hit an officer with the vehicle, police said.
Officers then fired their weapons in the direction of the SUV, which hit a squad car, officials said.
The SUV driver was taken into custody and to an area hospital for injuries related to the crash, officials said.
The officer hit by the vehicle was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, officials said. Two more officers were taken to an area hospital for observation.
A van fleeing the scene was followed for about 2 miles, to the 7100 block of South Yale Avenue, where officers tried to stop it, officials said.
The van hit two squad cars, and a 30-year-old suspect got out of the van, but was hit by the vehicle as it continued to travel, police said. It is unclear whether there were more people in the van.
The 30-year-old suspect was placed into custody and taken to the University of Chicago in critical condition, authorities said. Two officers were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
The van was found unoccupied in the 7500 block of South State Street near the Dan Ryan Expressway a short time later, according to police.
As reporters on the scene about 9 a.m. waited for a news conference to begin, police spokesperson Tom Ahern told them the officers hospitalized had “minor injuries” and had not been shot.
Two guns were recovered, Ahern said, but no charges were announced for the two suspects.
A banged-up squad car with its airbags deployed remained on the scene about 9 a.m. near 70th Street and Yale Avenue.
One neighbor who has lived on the block for 15 years heard gunfire and someone scream to “call the police.”
“We wouldn’t see this presence if the police weren’t harmed,” said the resident, who declined to be named.
More than a dozen officers and detectives clutching clipboards could be seen canvassing the block, which was entirely blocked off by crime scene tape.
Demetri Ware arrived at his Englewood home having just finished his shift as a security guard to find squad cars in the street and crime scene tape cordoning off an entire nearby block where the incident happened.
“[My family] heard a lot of shots and then they told me it was more than a dozen,” Ware said.
Ware, 32, has been living on the block since he was a child and said the neighborhood is usually safe.
“If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere,” Ware said. “I’m not really scared, more worried.”
Ware lives with 13 relatives at home and typically plays pickleball in the streets. His 7-year-old daughter rides her bike in the area.
He was planning to buy a water slide for his family to use this weekend, but is having second thoughts.
“I’m not feeling positive about today,” Ware said. “This is heavy.”
The officers involved in the incident will be placed on routine administrative leave for at least 30 days.
Anyone with information on the incident should call 312-746-3609.
