Shots fired by off-duty police officer outside NW Side Jewel

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Shots were fired by an off-duty police officer at two alleged shoplifters outside a grocery store on the Northwest Side.

The incident happened in the parking lot of a Jewel at the corner of Foster and Harlem avenues just after 7 p.m. Wednesday night.

Chicago Police News Affairs said in a preliminary statement that an off-duty Chicago Police detective was grocery shopping when store employees alerted her to a theft in progress.

The employees identified two males who had exited the store with merchandise and were loading it into a vehicle, police said. As the officer confronted the men, they reacted by accelerating their vehicle at the officer, police said.

The officer fired shots, but no one was struck and the suspects were taken into custody a short time later. The suspects were not hit by the gunfire and the off-duty officer was not injured.