CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An off-duty Chicago Police Officer was showing signs of improvement late Wednesday morning after getting shot in the head while he drove two blocks away from police headquarters.
“I want to ask you all for your prayers for this officer who has been a Chicago police officer just two years,” said Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at the start of a news conference.
“The offender inside the Toyota fired shots at the officer’s vehicle and struck the officer in the head,” Johnson said.
The incident occurred near 37th Street and Michigan Avenue.
The officer’s SUV knocked over a stop sign and side-swiped a fence before hitting a tree.
Nearby officers conducting a traffic stop heard the shots and immediately responded, but the Toyota had gotten away.
The Superintendent said a private security camera captured part of the incident.
FOP President Kevin Graham also asked for prayers.
“I would ask everyone to please keep him and his family and the 6th District and the officers in the Chicago Police Department in their thoughts and prayers today because that’s what I think is really going to get him to pull through," Graham said.
The Superintendent said it may have been a case of mistaken identity.
He asked that anyone who knows anything about the incident to please contact Chicago Police.
Johnson said he worked with the officer’s father for many years in the 6th District and said their sons are now friends working in the same district