By Elvia Malagon
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — An off-duty Cook County deputy was one of three people who were wounded in a shooting early Saturday in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood, officials said.
The shooting happened about 3:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of North State Street. Police did not release details about what led to the shooting.
Sophia Ansari, spokeswoman for the Cook County sheriff’s office, said an off-duty Cook County courts deputy was wounded in the shooting. He has worked for the sheriff’s office for 11 years.
She did not have additional information about the deputy’s involvement in the shooting, and she said the investigation was being handled by Chicago police.
Jeff Lyle, deputy district chief for the Fire Department, said three people were taken in serious condition from the scene.
Ansari said the off-duty officer was grazed in the head. Police previously said a 39-year-old man had been grazed in the head.
A 33-year-old man was shot in the leg. Both men were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.
A 30-year-old man was shot in the lower back and was listed in good condition at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
One of the wounded men was carried out on a stretcher past a crowd that had gathered at the corner of State and Division streets.
Officers patted down a man dressed in all black before placing him in the backseat of a police car. Bouncers from area bars and clubs huddled on the corner and watched as the man was placed into the car.
Officers later walked a man in handcuffs out of the crime scene. Police said detectives were questioning a person of interest in the shooting.
Officers blocked with police tape a public parking garage on State. Officers could be seen talking to several people inside the first floor of the garage and they were looking at a car. It was across the street from McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon, which also was taped off by police.
Men who had been speaking to officers inside the parking garage declined to comment.
The area where the shooting happened has several popular bars and clubs. As officers interviewed witnesses, people continued walking in and out of the bars. Flower petals could be seen along Division.
Hector Cruz, 23, was among those who watched the aftermath of the triple shooting. He had traveled from Romeoville to go to Detention Nightclub with friends.
He said he was smoking a cigarette outside the nightclub when he heard two gunshots and then saw people running.
Down the street, a man, who did not want to be identified, was on his phone perplexed by the shooting.
“What the (expletive),” he said.
The man moved to Chicago about two months ago. He was at a nightclub around the corner from where the shooting took place, and he said he would think twice before spending another night out in the Gold Coast neighborhood.
“I’m from Kentucky,” he said. “I don’t see this.”
As the crowd of bar patrons left the neighborhood, officers continued to guard the crime scene. Along Divison, a man waved a large sign at motorists in the area. It read: “President Trump Will Stop Chicago Carnage.”
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