Chicago Police had a standoff with a gunman at Mercy Hospital in the city's South Side on Monday. One police officer and two hospital staff members were killed during the ordeal. Another officer, however, escaped injury when a round hit his holster and lodged into his Smith and Wesson M&P, Fox 32 reported.
This is absolutely amazing. An officer's life was spared during the Chicago Mercy Hospital shooting because of his gun holster. The round went through his holster and lodged into his firearm. pic.twitter.com/5Tj9glI53Q
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) November 20, 2018
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Monday night that the officer was not injured.
"Those officers that responded today saved a lot of lives," Johnson said. "They were heroes because we just don't know how much damage he was prepared to do."
The gunman, 32-year-old Juan Lopez, was also killed in the standoff.
As Matt wrote earlier:
The shooting left three people dead, including a police officer that was responding to the gunfire. The shooting began around 3:30 P.M. yesterday after the gunman, Juan Lopez, confronted his ex-fiancée and emergency room door Tamara O’Neal, according to a local ABC affiliate. O’Neal was shot and killed in the hospital parking lot. Lopez then re-entered the building and killed pharmacy resident Dayna Less as she was walking out of an elevator. Officer Samuel Jimenez was responding to the call of shots fired when Lopez killed him in the lobby. Lopez was later found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Another officer that responded to the shooting was struck as well, but saved by his firearm which stopped the round.