A gun-wielding man was critically injured this evening by police after he began shooting at a
Father's Day celebration at a South Side park and then attempted to shoot the officers, officials said.
The incident occurred at Grand Crossing Park on the 7600 block of South Ingleside Avenue at about 6:30 p.m., officials said. The incident also left three police officers with minor injuries.
About 1,000 people were attending picnics at Grand Crossing Park, near East 77th Street and South Ingleside Avenue, when someone fired gunshots into the air, authorities said.
Officials said a man who was part of the celebrations fired a gun several times in the air.
At the time of that shooting, two police officers were driving near the incident when someone approached them and told them that someone was shooting a gun in the park this evening, according to police and Camden.
Police were at the park because there had been a large shooting at the park several years ago during Father's Day, said Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police.
The officers were near the entrance of the park near 76th Street and Ingleside this evening as a swarm of people quickly escaped the park, officials said.
The officers then saw a man wearing a white T-shirt and holding a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with an extended clip, Camden said.
After the officers told the man to drop the gun he instead fired at the police who responded by shooting back and the man and critically injuring him, officials said. Police believe he was possibly the same individual who fired shots into the air.
Three officers sustained minor injuries but were not shot, officials said.
Christopher Raymond was with three other adults and two children and were just getting to the park when they saw the crowd charging toward them in fear.
Raymond then saw the man with an Uzi-style gun, he said. He said he saw the police order the man, who was about 20 feet away from Raymond's group, to drop the gun when he opened fire at the officers. The man refused and Raymond said he saw the man respond by firing at the officers.
"He fired first because he saw the police coming into the park," said Raymond. "He didn't care who he shot, there were children all over the place."
Raymond who was with three other adults and their daughters, 13, and 9, and the others in the group credited police for saving their lives. He said the officers acted properly and saved many from being shot by the man.
"If they didn't shoot him when they shot him, his bullets would have hit us," said Raymond.
The wounded man was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital for treatment, said Chicago Fire Deparment Chief Joseph Roccasalva. The officers were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in good-to-fair condition, Roccasalva said.
Members of the Independent Police Review Authority were investigating. A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.
Marion Jeffrey, of Hazel Crest, said that he was with his family in the park near East 77th Street and South Ingleside Avenue when his brother-in-law said he heard firecrackers.
"I said, 'No, those are not firecrackers, those are gunshots. Everybody get down,'" Jeffrey said.
He said he then looked up to see a man with a gun in his hand, squad cars swarming the area, then heard at least a dozen more gunshots.
Jeffrey added that he hesitated to attend Sunday's celebration in the neighborhood where he grew up, and had not planned to stay long.
"It just takes one nut to start a situation like this," he said.
As of 9:00 p.m., police were still at the park processing the scene.
People who were in the park were waiting for police to allow them to collect their gatherings. Food that people dropped on their way out of the park lay smashed in the grass near the scene.
SHOOTING OCCURED IN THE 6TH DISTRICT Beat 624
(Jan. 1, 2011-June 11, 2011)
Shooting- 10
Homicide- 5
Drug Arrests- 235
Robbery- 79
Gun Arrests-18
