Dolton police detective wounded in Chicago shooting awaiting surgery

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 17-year police veteran is waiting to have surgery Tuesday on a bullet lodged in his back after being wounded in a shooting on Chicago's South Side Monday.

Doctors at Advocate Christ Hospital are trying to figure out a way to safely remove a bullet from Dolton Police Detective Darryl Hope's back.

The 55-year-old father of three and decorated Dolton police detective was shot three times during an attempted robbery in the 7600-block of South Calumet Avenue, police said.

He was dressed in plain clothes coming off of his midnight shift on Monday when two men approached him as he was walking onto his front porch.

The armed men tried to rob him, but Detective Hope struggled with them and shots were exchanged. The men ran away with nothing and the hunt is still on for them Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Detective Hope is nursing serious injuries.

"You get off work, and you're on your way home and you get to your front door step and there's danger on your doorstep," community activist Andrew Holmes said. "He's just blessed he had those holy hands around him. but he's still in the red."

Hope's friends and colleagues say his experience may have helped him stay alive.

The detective is a member of the South Suburban Crime Task force. He has been a member of the Dolton Police force for 17 years.

Meanwhile Hope has been transferred to a trauma unit as he waits for surgery.