An off-duty Chicago police officer was shot, while attempting to intervene when a woman was being stabbed on the Northwest Side Tuesday afternoon, CPD officials said.
The incident took place in the 5600-block of West Leland Avenue in Jefferson Park.
Neighbors said there was a chaotic fight between a man and a woman on the sidewalk in the residential area.
From a neighbor basement office, the workday broke with a frantic scream.
"This was a different kind of blood curdling, shocking scream," Thomas Desenfants said.
That was followed by gunfire, he said.
"You can't mistake it. Once you hear it, you know what it is, and you know that something awful is happening," Desenfants said.
Just after 2:20 p.m., an off-duty detective assigned to the Area Four Detective Division saw the woman being attacked, and fired shots at the suspect, police said.
Desenfants dialed 911 from inside his front window, watching the detective try and stop the assailant.
The detective suffered a graze wound to the leg, while trying to stop the suspect, police said.
The suspect was later found dead in the minivan he used to escape in the 5500-block of West Leland, Chicago police said.
The detective was taken to Lutheran General hospital in fair condition after the incident, Chicago fire officials said.
The woman died on the scene, police said.
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CPD sources said the attack did not appear to be random.
"Oh, I'm very grateful the officer was there, but, unfortunately, I don't think he was there in time. No fault of his own, he wasn't even on-duty at the time," one neighbor said.
The Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability is responding to the incident, and the Investigative Response Team is also on the scene investigating.
The officer involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for a minimum period of 30 days.
Anyone with information is asked to call COPA at 312-746-7608 or visit www.chicagocopa.org.
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