CHICAGO (RNN/AP) - A gunman opened fire Monday at a Chicago hospital, killing three people, including a police officer and two hospital staffers, authorities said.
A police spokesman said there was a verbal altercation in the parking lot between a female hospital staffer and the male suspect, with whom the suspect was in a relationship.
A third person tried to intervene. The male suspect pulled a gun. The third person then ran inside the hospital.
The suspect fatally shot the female victim he’d been arguing with in the parking lot.
Police soon arrived. The suspect fired multiple shots at police before they could exit their cars. The suspect then ran into the hospital.
Police engaged in a firefight with the suspect in the hospital. Another female hospital staffer was fatally shot. An officer was then fatally shot.
The shooter was also fatally shot, but it’s not yet known if he took his own life or was killed by police.
The officer, identified as Samuel Jimenez, was taken to University of Chicago Medicine, about four miles south of Mercy.
“He is in critical condition but receiving excellent care,” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi had earlier tweeted. “Please send your prayers."
On Monday night, officials confirmed Jimenez had died.
“The shooting at Mercy Hospital is over,” the hospital’s Twitter account said Monday afternoon. “Chicago Police Department have secured the hospital and patients are safe.”
Multiple witnesses reported hearing gunshots.
James Gray told reporters that he saw multiple people shot.
“It looked like he was turning and shooting people at random,” he said.
“I am scared as hell. I have never been so scared, I hear of shootings going on every day at people’s workplaces, but not where I work at. This was very too close to me. That could have been us back there and if any bullets had pierced the wall we all would have been hurt,” an employee of the hospital’s family clinic told WLS TV.
Tracy Lyons was walking out of the hospital when gunfire erupted.
“All of a sudden you hear five to six gunshots,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times. Lyons saw police exchanging shots with someone near the hospital. “So, I ran inside the building to alert the receptionist and the nurse, ‘They are shooting outside.’”
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network and Associated Press. All rights reserved.
CHICAGO (RNN/AP) - A gunman opened fire Monday at a Chicago hospital, wounding at least four people, including a police officer and a hospital employee, authorities said.
The shooter was dead, but it wasn’t immediately clear if he took his own life or was killed by police. A witness reported seeing police exchange gunfire with someone in a car outside Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on the South Side of Chicago.
The officer was taken to University of Chicago Medicine, about four miles south of Mercy.
“He is in critical condition but receiving excellent care,” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted. “Please send your prayers."
A #ChicagoPolice officer has been shot in the active shooter incident at Mercy Hospital. He is in critical condition but receiving excellent care. Please send your prayers. pic.twitter.com/kFfMY1ZmF7
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) November 19, 2018
The three others were also in critical condition.
“The shooting at Mercy Hospital is over,” the hospital’s Twitter account said. “Chicago Police Department have secured the hospital and patients are safe.”
Multiple witnesses reported hearing gunshots.
James Gray told reporters that he saw multiple people shot.
“It looked like he was turning and shooting people at random,” he said.
“I am scared as hell. I have never been so scared, I hear of shootings going on every day at people’s workplaces, but not where I work at. This was very too close to me. That could have been us back there and if any bullets had pierced the wall we all would have been hurt,” an employee of the hospital’s family clinic told WLS TV.
Tracy Lyons was walking out of the hospital when gunfire erupted.
“All of a sudden you hear five to six gunshots,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times. Lyons saw police exchanging shots with someone near the hospital. “So, I ran inside the building to alert the receptionist and the nurse, ‘They are are shooting outside.’”
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network and Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A shooting at a Chicago hospital has wounded multiple people, including a suspect and a police officer, authorities said.
Shots were fired Monday afternoon at Mercy Hospital on the city’s South Side, and officers were searching the facility. Police issued a statement on Twitter saying there were “reports of multiple victims.”
A witness named James Gray told Chicago television station ABC 7 that he saw multiple people shot: “It looked like he was turning and shooting people at random.”
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said at least one potential suspect was shot but offered no details. Authorities asked people to avoid the area.
A message left for hospital officials was not immediately returned.
Television footage showed several people, including some wearing white coats, walking through a parking lot with their arms up.
