Two Cops Shot at Chicago Hot Dog Stand, Suspect in Custody

Chicago police arrested a man who shot and wounded two officers at a hot dog stand. The shooting took place on the city’s west side in Lawndale.

A man standing in line at the Original Maxwell Street hot dog stand on Independence Boulevard allegedly at about 3:30 a.m. Friday dropped a handgun out of his pocket while reaching for his money, the Chicago Tribune reported. He quickly picked up the gun and fired at a nearby officer, striking him in the head, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters on Friday.

The bullet grazed the officer’s head, the report states. The man then allegedly fired three times into the driver’s side of the patrol unit, striking another officer in the leg, Brown stated.

“10-1! 1-!,” an officer shouted into his radio. “10-1” is the police code in Chicago for an officer emergency, the Tribune reported. “I got shot in the head! I got shot in the head!” the officer yelled.

The man ran away from the scene but was apprehended a short time later by an undercover officer who chased him and other officers who responded to the “10-1” call.

“It was really a bang-bang moment,” Superintendent Brown told reporters during the Friday press conference. Brown said the officers did not have time to turn on their body cameras or draw their own weapons in defense.

Police later recovered the handgun which police officials said was “tossed.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the attack “brazen and callous,” the local newspaper reported. She said this “underscores that there are way too many people carrying illegal firearms and proves why diligent law enforcement action against illegal firearm possession is essential,” the Tribune wrote. She did not offer any evidence the gun was illegal or was being carried illegally.

The Associated Press reported gunmen fired at 76 officers last year resulting in 14 gunshot wounds and one fatality. So far this year, six officers came under fire.

“These offenders have no regard for law enforcement,” Brown stated. he added that shootings at police climbed by 500 percent over the past few years.

Doctors released the officer who was shot in the head. The other officer was hospitalized with a non-life-threatening leg injury.

Prosecutors have not yet charged the alleged shooter.