Chicago police officer ‘OK’ after bulletproof vest is grazed

An officer was grazed in the bulletproof vest Saturday evening during a shootout with a gunman suffering a mental episode in the West Rogers Park neighborhood.

The situation began about 5:40 p.m. in the 6400 block of North Kedzie Avenue, according to Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Police initially responded to a family disturbance at an apartment. When officers got outside, a man leaned out a window, told them his son was suffering some type of mental episode and tossed officers the keys to the home.

“The police go into the house, and that’s when the suspect opens fire,” Guglielmi said.

A bullet grazed the officer’s vest, and that officer or his partner returned fire but didn’t hit anyone. The bullet did not penetrate the vest. The shooter then locked himself in a room, causing SWAT response. SWAT officers negotiated with him, “talked him out,’’ and he was taken into custody and to a hospital for a mental evaluation.

“Luckily officer is okay,” Guglielmi tweeted.

“Besides the shock of the incident, the officer will be OK. He got lucky,” Guglielmi said. The officer, who was talking and in good health, will also be checked out at an area hospital but was not physically hurt.

It was not immediately known who owned the gun, and Guglielmi said there were no hostages and no one else was hurt. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability will investigate the officer’s use of force.

Around 7:15 p.m., cars on Devon Avenue pulled aside on the icy street as an ambulance heading toward Presence St. Francis Hospital made its way east, followed by a police car and Fire Department car.

On Kedzie between Devon and Arthur Avenue, red and yellow police tape had been tied around trees, cars and building fixtures. Police cars, marked and unmarked, were parked all over the neighborhood, their flashing blue lights spotlighting the falling snow and tinting the white street.

Above them and along Kedzie, most of the windows were dark. But yellow light glowed in the middle second-story window on one of the three-wide buildings, illuminating a figure holding a cellphone, watching the police activity below.

A plainclothes officer addressed an officer in uniform. “Your cameras are off, right?” he asked. “Yessir.”

A short pause. “We’re gonna need your cameras.”