Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― People couldn't believe what they were seeing on State Street in the middle of the day: a wild police foot chase, a suspect with a knife abducts a man and then shots ring out. The suspect is killed, a police officer is shot, and stunned onlookers run for cover. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports that it all happened around 1 p.m. Thursday in the crowded downtown Loop.

Chicago police fatally shot one man and wounded one of their own officers in a lunchtime shootout in the Loop, on a street crowded with people, less than a block from ABC 7's news studio.

Police describe the suspect as a panhandler who got too aggressive, and refused to respond to police who say they were forced to shoot him.

The shooting took place around 12:45 p.m. just south of ABC 7 News studios in front of Loehmann's department store, near State and Randolph streets.

The bullet casings near the corner mark the spot where the panhandler was shot to death by police.

But cops say the incident started a block east at Wabash and Randolph. They say the suspect, described as a middle-aged man, started waving a knife threatening people.

When police tried to stop him, he ran to State Street, and witnesses say he grabbed an elderly man and put a knife to his throat.

"We had a male individual who was menacing people with a knife," said Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis. "Our guys responded to that situation, they ordered him to drop his knife, he refused to."

"I just heard yelling and commotion down the street and looked, and I saw police trying to surround this man. They were just basically encircling him," said witness Kevin Shields.

"They were just trying to tell him to put the knife down. They didn't want to go too close to him 'cause he had an object in his hand, and he was being real aggressive, saying, 'No, I'm not going to put it down.' He didn't want to put down the knife or anything, so they had to do what they had to do," said witness Angelo Watts.

"He was just yelling, hollering. They tried to subdue him with mace, but they really didn't want to get too close, I guess, just 'cause he had a knife," a witness said.

Katherine Sherlock was on the second floor of the building at State and Randolph streets when she heard several gunshots. She said a panic ensued and people on the street began screaming after the shots were fired.

"They shot him right over there across the street," said witness Bobby Polk. "Somewhere in his chest, and he just went straight down and hit the ground."

Supt. Weis said the officers shot the man three or four times. Witnesses said they heard up to eight shots.

The police officer was struck by one of the bullets while he was trying the grab the offender. Police say the bullet hit his protective vest, which saved his life. However, the impact bruised his chest. He was taken to the hospital for observations.

Weis defended the officers' actions, saying they only had a few seconds to make a decision.

"He was trying to murder the innocent, elderly gentleman," Supt. Weis said. "And with that escalation of force, our officers were forced to engage him, and we used deadly force."

Weis explained how the cop was accidently shot and defends the officers' decision to shoot in the middle of downtown, during lunch time when innocent bystanders could have been hit.

But if the officer accidentally got shot, some witnesses worry that others could have also been hurt.

"Why would they shoot out here? It was more than just me. There were more people walking back and forth that way," said witness Bobby Polk. "They were shooting. A bullet could have hit this person or that person."

"The action taken, at least from what I've been told at this time, is very close range," Weis said. "The officers were right on top of the individual and it's a judgment call."

Police tape was strung along State Street from Randolph Street to Benton Place, the alley just south of the Chicago Theatre. Dozens of both marked and unmarked Chicago Police squad cars were at the scene, along with a fire truck and two ambulances.

Hundreds of people gathered on the sidewalk along State Street in front of the Gene Siskel Film Center and the Borders Bookstore, talking about what they saw. But police cleared the sidewalk and directed everyone to walk west on Randolph Street shortly after 1 p.m.

The elderly man who was taken hostage was taken to the hospital for treatment, but did not appear to be seriously hurt, the witnesses said.

A second officer was also taken to the hospital after inhaling some of the pepper spray that the police tried to use on the suspect.

The officer who was shot was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Other officers streamed in, including one who carried a bullet-proof vest and a gun belt presumably belonging to the officer himself. It's possible that was the vest that saved his life.

Mayor Daley declined to comment Thursday on the shooting and its high-profile setting. He deferred to Weis, who defended the shooting officer's actions under the circumstances.

"Police work isn't clean," Weis said. "Sometimes there are shots fired in close proximities. The officers are well-trained, they're very close on one another. It's unfortunate that one officer was shot in the vest. He's fine."

Police did not identify the police officer who was shot. They'll only say he's 41 years old, with 11 years on the job. The officer who shot him is also not being identified. But we're told he's 40 years old with 16 years on the job.

The deceased panhandler has not yet been identified.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker, Chief Correspondent Jay Levine, Deidra White, Todd Feurer and Adam Harrington, the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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