Chicago police shoot armed person during struggle in Back of the Yards

CHICAGO (CBS)– A 40-year-old man is in critical condition after being shot by police during a struggle in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. 

Police said around 11 p.m., two Chicago police officers from the Community Safety Team responded to a shotsspotter alert in the 5300 block of South May Street. Shotspotter helps police track alleged gunshots.

Police arrived on the scene and approached a group of people. CPD said as police “struggled with an armed offender,” one officer discharged their weapon, hitting the offender. 

The man was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. 

A witness told CBS 2 that he heard the gunshots that officers were responding to in the first place.

“We were sitting in our home, Heard a couple pow pow pows, all of a sudden we heard over a 100 shots, it had to be an automatic weapon or assault rifle,” Harry Williams said. “It was so loud, I told my family duck.”

No officers were injured. Police said they recovered a weapon at the scene.

This incident is being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days.