Off-duty officer shot in South Shore

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A female off-duty Chicago police officer was shot in the city's South Shore neighborhood.

Chicago police said the officer witnessed a crime in progress in the 2200-block of E. 69th St. around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. She was taking action to stop the crime when her weapon discharged, police said. It's not clear how the weapon discharged.

She sustained an injury and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition. No one else was injured.

Residents said a crew was working on the block and that the would-be robbers tried to steal some of their tools. Witnesses said police responded to the scene quickly.

"We seen the police officer picking up a lady off the ground. She received a gunshot wound to the leg," said William Calloway, a witness. "You could see the look on a lot of the officers' faces that they was real shook up because I'm sure that that was one of their colleagues that got shot."

Witnesses said they saw the officer limping afterwards and that she was still conscious.

No one is in custody. Police have not released any description of the suspect or suspects involved in the crime witnessed by the officer.

Area Central detectives are investigating.