ABC News(CHICAGO) — A Chicago police officer was shot Saturday morning, and police are now searching for the suspected gunman, officials said.
The officer was rushed to a local hospital for surgery and is in stable condition following the shooting in West Englewood in the city’s South Side, according to Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Police identified the suspect as 45-year-old Michael Blackman.
Blackman fled the scene and is on the run. He is considered armed and dangerous, according to Guglielmi.
He is also the alleged suspect from a different shooting on Wednesday that left a woman injured by gunfire in the 200 block of N. Milwaukee Ave, police said.
Saturday’s incident began around 8:40 a.m. in the 1900 block of West 65th Street. It was not immediately clear what unfolded before shots were fired.
The officer, who has not yet been identified, was shot twice in the groin area, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford, according to ABC Chicago station WLS. Calls to Langford by ABC News were not immediately returned.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is aware of the situation and monitoring for updates.
“I ask all Chicagoans to join me in praying for the officer shot earlier today and his family, and for the continued safety of our first responders and law enforcement who work day and night to protect our residents,” Lightfoot wrote in a tweet.
The U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were at the scene searching for the suspected gunman.
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