New Year marked by police shootings in Chicago

CHICAGO - The city of Chicago got off to a rocky start in the new year with police shooting four people following reports of shots fired in two South Side neighborhoods, authorities said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

One incident reportedly took place shortly before 2 a.m. and left three people shot.

A 25-year-old man and a 30-year-old man were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition and a woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, officials said, reports the paper.

Authorities reportedly say that police-involved shooting was sparked after a person raised a gun towards police.

Another incident, which occurred just past midnight, involved a probationary police officer who shot a man who raised a gun toward him after he and other officers saw him firing shots in a neighborhood, police say, according to the paper.

Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Patrick Camden told the paper the man was celebrating New Year’s Eve by firing shots even though he was on probation for a conviction for unlawful use of a weapon.

“Typical New Year’s Eve (stuff),” Camden reportedly told the paper.

The man was reportedly taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in good condition.

No officers were injured in either incident.