Chicago Shooting: Police Officer, Three Killed After Gunman Goes On Rampage in Mercy Hospital

Local Editor

At least four people were killed – one of them a police officer – after a gunman opened fire inside a Chicago hospital, officials said.

Officers rushed to the Mercy Hospital amid reports of multiple casualties after a suspect entered the facility on the city’s South Side and started firing. The 32-year-old suspect was killed during the incident, according to CNN, although it was not immediately clear if he had taken his own life or was shot by police.

Some unconfirmed reports said his primary target was his ex-fiancée.

A police officer, Samuel Jimenez, died in the attack, a police spokesman said on Twitter.

Two others who were struck by gunfire were taken to hospital in a critical condition but later died, an investigator at the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed.

Anthony Guglielmi, chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department, tweeted for people to “avoid area. Heavy police response incoming”.

A police official told NBC News that the hospital had been partially evacuated, while officers searched the premises. Some people were hiding in locked rooms. A nearby school was also placed on lockdown for a period, though students were later allowed to go home.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team