Officer shoots man attacking him with bat on NW Side, police say

CHICAGO -- An off-duty police officer pulled his weapon on two men after police say one was aggressive and the other attacked him with a baseball bat in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood.

The 37-year-old off-duty officer was walking east on Schubert Avenue from Monitor about 10:30 p.m. when he came across an "aggressive male subject" holding his waistband, police said. The officer announced himself and started to pat him down when the man called out to family members.

A 32-year-old man came out of a residence armed with a baseball bat, police said. The officer identified himself again, but the man approached and hit the officer multiple times with the bat.

The officer, who is assigned to the Town Hall District, drew his gun and fired shots at the man with the bat, striking him, police said.

The man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition, according to Chicago Fire Department Cmdr. Walter Schroeder. The officer suffered an injury to his arm and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.

The initial suspect the off-duty officer spotted has been taken into custody, police said.

The Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police-involved shootings in Chicago, is investigating the incident.

Source: Sun-Times Media Wire - Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2016.)