3 wounded in Chicago hospital shooting
Chicago police officer among those injured
Police officer among those injured in attack, suspected gunman killed
CHICAGO – Three people were critically wounded and a suspected gunman is dead after a shooting at Mercy Hospital, police said.
A police officer was among the wounded. He and the other two people were in critical condition, authorities said.
The shooting on the city’s South Side happened around 3:20 p.m. It was not immediately clear whether the shooter took his own life or was killed by police.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted a confirmation of the incident, saying, “Reports of multiple victims from incident at 26th and Michigan. Please avoid area.”
Christine Calace, a police department spokeswoman, told USA TODAY that preliminary reports indicate shots were fired inside and outside the hospital building.
A witness named James Gray said it looked as if the attacker “was turning and shooting people at random.”
The suspect was walking with a woman near a parking lot. He turned and repeatedly shot the woman in the chest. He then entered the hospital and continued firing, Gray said.
Steven White, a patient at the hospi- tal who had been waiting to be discharged, said the shooting started near the emergency room entrance.
“It was, ‘Pow, pow, pow,’ ” said White, who was treated for dehydration at the hospital.
White said he could see through the window people lying on the ground. The gunman fired two shots at one person lying there, he said.
“You see stuff like this on TV, but to see someone so coldhearted,” White said. “It was like he had no remorse.”
The gunman ran into the building, and a police officer chased him. As bystanders took cover, White said, he heard the gunman fire half a dozen shots.
Pharmacist Joan Fortune said she and colleagues were talking to a patient near the emergency room entrance when the gunfire erupted.
A technician immediately pulled down security shutters and barricaded several employees and bystanders in their work area.
“We heard more gunshots and arguing,” Fortune said. “We stayed barricaded for about 30 minutes until the police (arrived), and we ran out a back (exit).”
Monique Hubbard, a technician in the pharmacy, said she heard several gunshots before she and others barricaded themselves.
“At one point, we could hear him shake the security shutters,” Hubbard said.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel huddled with Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at the city’s public safety headquarters where officials monitored the events, according to the mayor’s spokesman, Adam Collins.
Chicago recorded 762 murders in
2016 and 650 in 2017. The city has recorded 488 murders for 2018 as of Nov.
11, more than any other U.S. city but an 18 percent decline from last year.
Mercy Hospital and Medical Center is a 292-bed surgical Catholic teaching hospital that was established in 1852.
Monday’s incident follows two other shooting rampages, one at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, and another at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.