Chicago officer accidentally shoots, wounds two colleagues

A Chicago police officer on Wednesday night accidentally shot and wounded two colleagues while they were investigating a homicide.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said during a press conference that the officer accidentally discharged his gun, sending a bullet through the arm of one officer and into the shoulder of another, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Both officers went to MacNeal Hospital and were later transferred to a different hospital. 

The accidental discharge occurred during a homicide investigation when the officers pulled over a car that was wanted due to its possible connection to a killing, Brown said. 

The person resisted the officers, and during the encounter the officer accidentally fired his gun, “lightly striking” the other officers, according to Brown.

The two suspects in the car were arrested and a gun was found in the car, while the officer who accidentally fired the gun was placed on desk duty while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates the incident, according to the local outlet. 

Placing an officer on desk duty during an investigation like this is a protocol, the police said.