By Brian Brant
(CHICAGO) Two senior ATF agents and a Chicago Police Department officer were wounded in a shooting Wednesday morning at around 5:50 a.m. on the city's South Side, according to ABC 7.
CPD Superintendent David Brown said the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and the officer were conducting an undercover operation and were driving in an unmarked police car when they were shot.
The CPD officer was grazed on his head, while one ATF agent was hit in the hand and another was struck in the torso area. They have been stabilized at Christ Hospital.
Brown said this is the 36th CPD shooting this year, with nine hit by gunfire. He cited increasing violence toward law enforcement and in the city in the aftermath of the city's weekend of gun violence that included 97 people shot, 17 of them fatally.
"The officers are performing their jobs at the highest level; they are risking everything to protect the people of Chicago," he said. "No one would do what these officers do right now. This is a very challenging time to be in law enforcement, but they are rising to the challenge."
The suspects remain at large.
Alderman Matt O'Shea said he was glad those injured will be okay but asked President Joe Biden for help.
"Our communities are under siege," O'Shea said. "Our police officers are under siege; they're outmanned and they're outgunned. We have 100,000 gang members in the city of Chicago right now; they're all armed. They're emboldened. They have absolutely no fear, no respect for life, no respect for the communities that they come from."
Biden met with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Wednesday to discuss the rise in gun violence before he headed to an event in northwest suburban McHenry County.