Kohl’s Shooting: Black Friday 2013 Shoplifting Incident Results in Injury of Police Officer [VIDEO]
A suburban Chicago police officer has been released from the hospital after sustaining injuries during a pursuit of shoplifting suspects from a Kohl's department store on Black Friday.
According to The Christian Science-Monitor, the unnamed officer was dragged a short distance when he became partially caught in a car being used by shoplifting suspects trying to flee the scene Thanksgiving Day. The 52-year-old suspect, who is now facing charges of attempted murder, was only stopped after another officer fired at him.
The incident occurred at the Kohl's store in Romeoville, Ill., a suburb about 30 miles southwest of Chicago. The store, which opened to shoppers .at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night, reported suspected shoplifters to police just after 10 p.m. Thursday. As the patrol car approached the store, one of the suspects bolted out the door, jumped in a waiting car, and tried to take off. As he closed the door of the vehicle he caught the officer's arm, but still drove off, hauling the officer alongside him.
The driver was struck in the arm by a bullet after another cop fired three to four times, shouting for him to stop. The police officer had injuries to his right shoulder.
A passenger in the car, identified as Robert Russell, 51, of Joliet, Ill. Was charged with attempted murder. The driver has not yet been charged, but a third suspect who remained in the store and was charged with felony theft was identified as 28-year-old Gerald Chamberlain, also of Joliet.
No other injuries to shoppers trying to take advantage of the offered sales were reported in the incident.
