3 Cops in Chicago Shot Inside Unmarked Vehicle While Working Undercover

Three law enforcement officers in Chicago were shot Wednesday morning while driving onto an expressway on Chicago's South Side inside an unmarked vehicle as they worked undercover, the Associated Press reported.

Two officers from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and one Chicago officer were headed to an assignment when they were met by gunfire around 5:30 a.m., according to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

"This is a very challenging time to be in law enforcement, but they are rising to the challenge of doing all they can," Brown said. "And the work they do is extremely dangerous."

Brown did not comment on whether the shooter or shooters knew if the victims were law enforcement officers during a press conference. He said they were "fired upon from the street" when they drove on an on-ramp to Interstate 57. No arrests have been made.

An ATF agent was shot in the hand and a bullet hit the other's torso, according to Brown. Another bullet appears to have grazed the back of the Chicago officer's head. The shooting comes after 100 people were shot in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, police reported.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

The shooting occurred near the 22nd District police station in the city's Morgan Park neighborhood.

The shooting comes the same day as a scheduled visit to suburban Crystal Lake, Illinois, by President Joe Biden. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said she plans to discuss gun control and the city's violence, which has included an increase in shootings this year, when she meets with the president.

At a morning press briefing, Brown declined to talk about what the officers were working on. Department spokesman Tom Ahern later said that detectives had not yet interviewed the three officers to determine if they believe whoever shot them knew they were law enforcement officers.

Two police officers who were wounded by while trying to break up a crowd over the long Fourth of July weekend.

With Wednesday's shooting, 36 Chicago officers have been shot or shot at this year, Brown said.

The holiday weekend shootings included 18 homicides. The bloodshed was comparable to the long Fourth of July weekend last year, when 17 people were fatally shot and 70 more were wounded.