Off-duty Chicago police officer Clifton Lewis shot and killed

(CBS) CHICAGO - Clifton Lewis, an off-duty Chicago police officer, was shot and killed in a North Austin neighborhood convenience store where he was working security Thursday night.

CBS Chicago reports officer Lewis, 41, was shot at about 8:30 p.m. According to authorities, two men walked in and shot him several times.

"I guess he had a problem with the guy, and then the officer got caught in a crossfire as he was in the store with the gun, or whatever, and we just ran out, so we didn't see anything after that," a witness at the scene said.

The officer was rushed to the hospital while members of the Chicago Police department waited outside. He was pronounced dead about an hour after the shooting occurred.

Lewis was an eight-year Chicago Police veteran.

"We're going to try to make sure we speak out to the community, because if anybody knows anything about the person who took this young man's life, we want them to be vigilant about reporting this information, and we hope that this person is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Rev. Ira Acree said. "This is asinine. I tell you, I don't know - we're going to do all we can to reach out to police officers."

The Rev. Acree said the gun violence in the neighborhood where Lewis was shot has gotten out of control.

"This is sad. It's devastating, and it's just unfortunate because just three weeks ago, right in this community, right in the same store, masked robbers came into this place," he said, "and they have the audacity to come back again."

At one point in the investigation that followed, police were reportedly questioning two people inside a vehicle they pulled over in the area. However as of Friday morning, police would not comment any further and said no one was in custody.