Off-duty Cook County sheriff’s officer among 3 shot in Gold Coast

An off-duty Cook County sheriff’s officer working security at a Gold Coast bar was among three men shot in a fight near a parking garage early Saturday on the Near North Side.

The shooting happened about 3:30 a.m. on State Street just north of Division, according to Chicago Police. It stemmed from a dispute over payment, a police source said.

A 39-year-old man grazed in the head was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital along with a 33-year-old man shot in the leg, and a 30-year-old man shot in the back was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Fire officials said they all were in serious condition, but police said they had stabilized by mid-morning.

One of the victims is a courts deputy who was off duty, Cook County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said in an email.

Two men in handcuffs were escorted into separate CPD squad cars at the scene. Police said a person of interest was being questioned.

A few dozen glassy-eyed revelers gawked from the sidewalk at the sea of emergency lights that came at the tail end of a night on the busy strip of bars and clubs.

A cabdriver who declined to give his name said he was driving north on State and making a left turn onto Division, when he heard four gunshots and saw a police officer get out of an SUV at the intersection, heading toward the commotion with his gun drawn.

“After that, blue lights everywhere,” the cabdriver said of the police response.

He said it was the second shooting he had happened upon while driving early Saturday, after witnessing a fatal attack at a Goose Island gas station a mile away less than two hours earlier.

“You can’t get away from these shootings,” he said.