CBS 2 Chicago’s Charlie De Mar reports Illinois State Police trooper Gerald Mason has died after he was found with a gunshot wound inside his cruiser on the Dan Ryan Expressway on Friday afternoon. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Illinois State Police troopers and police, firefighters and paramedics from Chicago responded about 1:40 p.m. Friday, October 1, 2021 to a report of a shooting on the northbound Dan Ryan Expressway at 43rd Street in Chicago. An unidentified person, possibly a passerby, may have used the state trooper’s radio to call into dispatch that a trooper was shot.
UPDATE:
The Illinois State Trooper, identified as Gerald Mason, age 35, died Friday afternoon.
The Illinois State Police trooper was found with a gunshot wound in the head. He was transported to Level 1 Trauma Center University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. A video posted on social media showed a person being carried to another police SUV, which was apparently used for transport of the trooper.
Initially there was no information about an assailant, and anonymous police sources have indicated the gunshot may have been self-inflicted. An Illinois State Police SUV was discovered facing northbound in Lane 1 of the locale lanes with the driver’s door up against the divider wall between the local lanes and the express lanes. In the vicinity, three lanes comprise the local lanes, there is no left shoulder, and there is a wide concrete right shoulder. The trooper was inside the SUV.
I-94 WEST (inbound Dan Ryan) local lanes and express lanes were shut down between 47th Street and Pershing Road. Much of the inbound traffic diverted off of the northbound Dan Ryan Expressway was using La Salle Street. Outbound lanes were open.
The shooting investigation is underway the same day that the Illinois State Police began doubling patrols on Chicago area expressways to respond to the increased number of expressway shootings recently.
There have 185 expressway shootings year-to-date as of Thursday, September 30, 2021; compared to 83 year-to-date on September 30, 2020. There were 128 total shootings in 2020.
DEVELOPING …
The information in this article is an early report published before any summary information was confirmed or released by police or fire authorities.
An Illinois State Police trooper has died after he was found with a gunshot wound inside his cruiser on the Dan Ryan Expressway on Friday afternoon. CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar and Asal Rezaei report. YouTube Tips ⓘ
An Illinois State Trooper suffered a gunshot wound Friday afternoon on Interstate 94, fire officials said. https://t.co/g8WAbpCokE
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) October 1, 2021
Dan Ryan shooting critically injures Illinois state trooper, CPD says | LIVE https://t.co/FoIENTvdpe
— ChicagoMediaX (@chicagomediaX) October 1, 2021
Live streaming now @nbcchicago pic.twitter.com/vmdnfIVJMP
— Mike Lorber (@NBCSky5) October 1, 2021
The #DanRyan is a mess. A shooting investigation involving an @ILStatePolice trooper blocks all local lanes at 43rd. Use the express lanes IB to avoid a @ChicagoIsp reroute. The delay begins at 71st. #IDOT pic. #ChicagoTraffic @WBBMNewsradio pic.twitter.com/Nmmh9bLdVm
— #ChicagoTraffic NewsRadio 105.9 WBBM (@WBBM780Traffic) October 1, 2021
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