Alsip cop shoots, wounds man suspected of drag racing in Mount Greenwood

An Alsip police officer seriously wounded a man in an on-duty shooting early Wednesday after tracking a Cadillac suspected of being involved in drag racing into the Mount Greenwood neighborhood.

The officer fired shots when the driver of the Cadillac, identified as a 25-year-old man, failed to follow police commands to raise his hands and drove toward the officer and his partner, Alsip Police Chief Jay Miller said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

Just after 2 a.m., the officer saw a Dodge Challenger and a Cadillac drag racing in the David Estates neighborhood in the southwest suburb, Miller said. During a search for the vehicles, the officer pulled into a parking lot for an apartment building in the 4000 block of 115th Street in Chicago and found two people inside the Cadillac.

The officer and his partner got out of their squad car and told the 25-year-old and his passenger to raise their hands, police said. Instead of following directions, the 25-year-old drove toward the officer, who then opened fire. The Cadillac crashed into vehicles parked in the lot and into a squad car.

The 25-year-old was shot twice in the shoulder and was given medical attention by the Alsip officers before paramedics arrived, police said. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition.

Both officers suffered “minor injuries,” Alsip police said.

Chicago police will investigate the shooting and crash, which a spokesman for the department said was being categorized as an “aggravated assault.”

Illinois State Police were asked to investigate the Alsip officer’s use of force to “avoid any appearance of a potential conflict of interest,” according to Miller. Neither officer has been involved in a shooting before and both have “good records” with the department.

Miller said the 25-year-old, who has not been charged, was wanted on a warrant out of Indiana on a drug charge and had a “violent history” but did not provide specifics.

No Chicago police officers were involved in the shooting, authorities said.