FOX LAKE, Ill. (AP) – Police with helicopters, dogs and armed with rifles were conducting a massive manhunt in northern Illinois Tuesday after an officer was shot and killed while pursuing a group of suspicious men.
The officer, who has not been identified publicly, radioed in to tell dispatchers he was chasing three men on foot in the city of Fox Lake, 55 miles north of Chicago. Communication with him was lost soon after, said Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli.
“His backup arrived shortly thereafter and found him injured with a gunshot wound,” Covelli said. “The officer has succumbed to his injuries and passed away.”
Undersheriff Raymond Rose told the Chicago Tribune that the officer had also been stripped of his gun and other equipment.
Police and other law enforcement, some of them in military-style camouflage, were seen taking up positions on rooftops and along railroad tracks, scanning the terrain with rifle scopes and binoculars. Others leaned out of helicopters with weapons at the ready.