Chicago Cops Attacked By Gang Members As They Tried To Help Gunshot Victims

Chicago, IL – Chicago police officers were attacked by a crowd on Tuesday and blocked from providing immediately lifesaving aid to gunshot victims after a shootout between gang members on the South Side.

Police said the gunfight that erupted at about 4:30 p.m. on May 10 in the 4800-block of South Ada Street was part of escalating retaliatory violence between rival gangs, CNN reported.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said members from one gang were driving by in a stolen Mazda when they spotted members from a rival gang.

A gun battle erupted between the two factions and five people were shot, CNN reported.

The suspects in the vehicle fled the scene.

When police responded to the area moments later, bystanders quickly got aggressive, CNN reported.

“Gang members began assaulting police officers,” Superintendent Brown said.

Chicago Police 9th District Commander Don Jerome said the crowd interrupted first responders at they attempted to provide First Aid to the gunshot victims.

“Officers immediately attempted to perform life-saving measures on those that were shot, and they were met by a hostile crowd,” Cmdr. Jerome told reporters. “Members from the community and gang members from this crowd were actively fighting the police while they were trying to attend to the victims.”

Police said one person was fatally shot and four other people were wounded.

Two  were transported to the hospital in critical condition and two were reportedly in stable condition, WLS reported.

They were upgraded to stable condition on Wednesday.

Two officers were “battered” by members of the crowd and police said the individuals who attacked them were arrested at the scene, CNN reported.

Both suspects were charged with resisting arrest and one was charged with battery to a police officer, according to Cmdr. Jerome.

Superintendent Brown said two rifles were recovered at the scene, as well as multiple spent shell casings, CNN reported.

Weapons recovered on scene where 5 individuals were shot 1 fatally, 4 wounded in gang conflict. #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/Ouyq6wEUWF

— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) May 10, 2022

Cmdr. Jerome said police gathered private security video from the scene and identified the Mazda as the getaway vehicle.

Video showed the vehicle crashed several blocks away from scene of the gun battle and the suspects fled on foot, CNN reported.

Cmdr. Jerome said police were searching for the suspects and that no arrests have been made.

Superintendent Brown said gang violence has escalated in Chicago since April when the brother of a high-ranking gang member was killed, allegedly by a rival gang member, CNN reported.

The dead man’s brother, 28-year-old Sergio Barron, was recently released on parole after serving eight years in prison for gun crimes and assaulting police, WLS reported.

Barron was arrested again in March on gun charges but was released on a $10,000 cash bond paid by his cousin.

The police superintendent blamed Barron for the increase in violence in the South Side neighborhood where homicides are up 100 percent from 2021 and shootings have increased by 48 percent since last year.

Superintendent Brown said police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office were working together to revoke his bond and “get him back, this high-ranking gang member who’s driving this violence as retaliation for his brother’s murder,” CNN reported.