19-year-old gang member charged with shooting Cicero police officer: officials

CICERO, Ill. (WLS) -- A 19-year-old "known gang member" has been charged with shooting a west suburban police officer, a Cicero spokesperson said Monday.

The shooting happened early Saturday morning in Cicero.

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Cicero police said two undercover officers working in the department's special operation division approached a vehicle after noticing it was illegally double-parked at 35th Street and 61st Court around 12:45 a.m..

The officers told the driver to move the vehicle before beginning to drive away, a spokesperson said. That's when 19-year-old Giovanni A. Saldivar, who was speaking to someone inside the double-parked vehicle, fired at the officers.

One officer, shot in the back, was transported to Loyola Hospital in serious but stable condition, police said. The second officer was unharmed.

A spokesperson said Saldivar fled into a nearby bar.

Backup officers responded to the scene and took Saldivar and a second person into custody.

Saldivar has been charged with two counts of Attempted Murder of a Police Officer, Aggravated Battery-Use of a Firearm, and Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm.

Saldivar is being held in custody ahead of his trial.

The injured officer, a 29-year-old man, has served with the Cicero Police Department for just under five years. He was released from the hospital on Sunday afternoon.