1 held after off-duty Merrionette Park cop, civilian shot during gun battle, traffic crash on Far South Side: officials

An off-duty Merrionette Park police officer and a man were shot after a traffic crash on the city’s Far South Side Saturday evening, officials said.

About 5:30 p.m., the officer, 51, was eastbound on 103rd Street when someone in a white Chevrolet that was also eastbound began firing shots at her and continued east, where it plowed into a black Ford car in the 2300 block of East 103rd Street, said Chicago Police Sgt. Rocco Alioto

That’s when the officer stopped, announced her office and an exchange of gunfire erupted, Alioto said.

The officer was shot in the neck and a 43-year-old bystander was hit in both legs, according to the sergeant.

The officer went to the nearby 4th District Chicago police station and Chicago police took her to the University of Chicago Medical Center, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. Alioto said her condition had “stabilized.”

The 43-year-old man shot was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center by ambulance and his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, Langford said.

The shooter ran away and was not in custody while a second person inside the Chevrolet was taken into custody at the scene, Alioto said.

Two of the three occupants of the Ford were taken to Trinity Hospital suffering from injuries in the crash and were expected to survive, according to Langford.

Detectives were investigating.