Three undercover agents were shot in Chicago early on Wednesday while they were seated in an unmarked police vehicle conducting an undisclosed investigation.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said at a press conference the officers were fired upon around 5:50 a.m. while trying to enter onto an expressway near the intersection of 119th Street and the ramp onto Interstate 57 on the city’s south side, which is also located near the 22nd District police station.
One of the wounded agents is a senior law enforcement officer with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the two other officers—also seniors—are agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Brown said.
One of the ATF agents was shot in the hand, the other was hit in the upper-body area and the CPD officer was grazed in the back of the head by a bullet. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
One ATF agent is a male, the other is a female. All three officers are being treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center. No further information regarding their identities was immediately released.
Brown said detectives are working toward capturing those involved “as soon as possible.” No details surrounding a potential suspect or information on the investigation were made public.
The shooting comes just one day after police reported that more than 100 people were shot in the Illinois city amid yet another bloody Fourth of July weekend that also injured two police officers who were trying to break up a crowd early on Monday during a holiday gathering.
With Wednesday’s latest shooting, 36 Chicago officers have been shot or shot at this year, Brown said.
“This is a very challenging time to be in law enforcement but they are rising to the challenge of doing all they can. And the work they do is extremely dangerous,” the superintendent said.
The holiday weekend shootings included 18 homicides. The bloodshed was comparable to the long Fourth of July weekend last year when 17 people were fatally shot and another 70 were wounded.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
