Man, 24, charged with attempted murder of 2 officers shot outside West Side hot dog spot

A 24-year-old man accused of shooting two Chicago police officers last week on the West Side has been charged with attempted murder, police officials announced Saturday night.

Kailo Harris-Caldwell was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, which Police Supt. David Brown said happened about 3:30 a.m. Friday at the Original Maxwell Street hot dog stand in the 3800 block of West Harrison Street as the gunman and one of the officers waited in line.

A gun allegedly fell from Harris-Caldwell’s waistband as he was ordering food in front of the officer. Harris-Caldwell then grabbed the gun off the ground and “began immediately shooting at the officers,” Brown said.

The officer’s partner was sitting in the squad car when the gunman fired at least three times into the car, Brown said. Neither officer returned fire.

“They (the wounded officers) were really ambushed,” Brown said. “When the offender dropped the gun, before they could react, he began shooting, so they had no time to react.”

Harris-Caldwell ran from the scene, but was arrested about 15 minutes later in the 100 block of South Pulaski, police said.

A weapon was recovered, as well as drugs, police said. Harris-Caldwell additionally faces a count of possession of a controlled substance.

One of the officers was grazed in the face and the other wounded in the leg, police said. Both officers were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

One officer was released within hours and was recovering at home, while the other was expected to be hospitalized for “a few days,” Brown told reporters Friday morning.

Harris-Caldwell was expected to appear in court for a bond hearing Sunday.