A suspect was arrested at a South Holland motel (possibly the Red Carpet Inn on Halsted Avenue) and taken into custody after an Illinois State Police trooper was injured Monday about 6:40 p.m. near the Halsted Street toll plaza along Interstate 80/Interstate 294 near south suburban Harvey.
The Red Carpet Inn is located just northeast of the I-80/I-294 Halsted Avenue interchange. The situation was declared secure, but the suspect was still defined as at large at 10:02 p.m.
Source: Suspect taken into custody after state trooper injured in incident on I-294: https://t.co/p0DP85KQLl pic.twitter.com/4puHCtzTi1
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) November 8, 2016
South Holland, IL: An armed suspect was #apprehended last night after fleeing a #StateTrooper he had a physical altercation with. #ISP pic.twitter.com/T4Nixf5whb
— Captured News (@CapturedNews) November 8, 2016
Illinois State police said the trooper saw a suspicious person near the plaza and confronted them, at which time the suspect pointed a gun at the officer, Illinois State Police said. Initially a call for assistance for aggravated battery to a police officer and shots fired went out about 6:40 p.m. after a struggle and several shots were fired.
*** ILLINOIS STATE TROOPER DOWN ***
Illinois State police, Calumet Police, Orland Hills Police, Tinley Park and other police agencies responded about 6:40 p.m. Monday to a shots fired call, followed by a report that an Illinois State Trooper was down.
SHOTS FIRED at police I-80 toll plaza at Halsted. Calumet City. Male/black suspect wearing a construction vest at large NB Halsted. LIVE TRAFFIC MAP … goo.gl/maps/pmSCHJsDk4w
The offender is described as a male/black, age 35, 5’10” 180, clean shaven, wearing a skull cap, wearing dark jeans and a reflective construction vest or jacket. Police were not certain whether the offender was still armed.
The suspect was at large, and possibly immediately went northbound on Halsted Avenue from Interstate 80 (I-80/I-294). A police helicopter was also searching the area for the offender. Some of the search focused on the large FedEx facility in the area.
Initially, there was no confirmation whether the state trooper was suffering a gunshot wound or was down for another reason. The trooper was injured in the neck, but initially it was unknown whether he was struck by a bullet or injured by a different mechanism or object. Later, the Illinois State Police confirmed that several shots were fired, but that the trooper was not shot.
A firearm was recovered at the scene, according to Illinois State Police.
Westbound I-80 was backed up from Halsted Avenue. The interchange is near Homewood, Harvey, South Holland, East Hazel Crest, and Thornton.
The Illinois State Police urge anyone with information to call 630-241-6800, Ext. 5028.
Get updates from The Cardinal CRIME BLOG ‘Plus’ on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Crime & Forensics’ Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts in the 24/7 Crime Alerts! and sub-categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor