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Off-duty Chicago officer shot and killed

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This photo provided by the Chicago Police Department shows Officer Michael Bailey, who was off-duty when he was shot and killed early Sunday morning, July 18, 2010, on his way home from a shift.

AP Photo/Chicago Police Department

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Chicago officials say an off-duty police officer killed outside his home was less than a month from retiring.

Officer Michael Bailey was shot about 6 a.m. Sunday on the city’s South Side. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Officials say Bailey had returned home from working an overnight shift and was cleaning his new car. They say several people approached him and may have tried to steal the vehicle. No arrests have been made.

Next month, Bailey would have turned 63, the mandatory retirement age for Chicago police.

Bailey is the third officer to be shot and killed in Chicago since May.

Mayor Richard Daley called the shooting “a tragic, stunning reminder of the senseless violence that stalks too many of our neighborhoods.”

Copyright 2010 Associated Press