Two people shot in gun battle with Chicago police officers

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago police wounded two people during a shootout Friday morning in the Pilsen neighborhood on the city's Southwest Side.

Two officers from the Major Accident Investigation Unit observed four people loitering in front of a closed store shortly before 7 a.m. and stopped to investigate, identifying themselves as police, the department said in a statement.

One of the four in the group then displayed a handgun and an exchange of gunfire ensued in which a 23-year-old man sustained gunshot wounds and was transported to a hospital, the statement said. A passerby, a 36-year-old male, sustained a graze wound to the leg and was taken to a hospital for treatment, it said.

Neither officer was struck by gunfire but both went to hospitals for observation, police said.

Three people in the group were placed into custody but the shooter fled the scene and was at large.

One of those wounded had gunshot wounds to his back and thigh, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

Residents of the area told WFLD-TV they heard about 10 shots fired.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said it was investigating the shooting.

So far this year, 36 Chicago police officers have been shot or shot at, spokesman Tom Ahern said.