4 dead in a shooting at Chicago’s Mercy Hospital

Mercy Hospital, Chicago was under attack by a man who showed up on Monday and opened fire on a woman, who according to sources was his former fiancé. He then fired on people present in the hospital, killing four more people, including a police officer and himself.

Chicago Police chief communications, Anthony Guglielmi, confirmed that officer Samuel Jimenez died in line of duty. He posted the news on Twitter.

According to NDTV, Chicago fire officials told ABC7 that two women were shot between 3 and 3:30 pm Central Time. One of the victims who was hit in the parking lot, was a doctor at the hospital. The shooter was her former fiancée. Both the women were rushed to nearby hospitals.

The shooter and victims’ identities were not immediately available.

A SWAT team was the initial responder after the incident in the 292-bed hospital near interstate 55. Buildings nearby including the National Teachers Academy were locked during the attack. The hospital tweeted after the attack was over and said that all the patients were safe.

Lenice Donaldson, a pharmacy technician told that she was in the back to get a drink and had returned when she heard the gunshots. She, along with other technicians locked themselves up until the police got them out, she said.

“It’s just unbelievable. We came out with our hands up, and there was blood all over the floor in the lobby,” Donaldson said. “It’s a shame.”

A cancer survivor, Tracy Lyons, said that she visits Mercy frequently for her radiation treatment. She spoke about the gun battle between the shooter and the police till a SWAT team freed her and some technicians from the lab.

“It was just nothing but pow-pow-pow,” she said. “We thought we would never get out of there.”

“It looked like he was turning and shooting people at random,” James Gray further told ABC7, according to the Associate Press. A witness reported that she saw blood by entrance, in an interview with CBS Chicago. Another witness reported that he saw a man shoot someone multiple times in the parking lot. He said that the officers exchanged gunfire with him in quick response.

Sen Dick Durbin, D-Ill., tweeted that he was praying for the victims of the shooting and their families.

Also on Monday, as per information from subarban St. Louis Post-Dispatch, police were searching for a gunman who entered a religious supply store, sexually assaulted at least one woman and shot another one in the head, leaving her critical at a hospital.

The shooting took place about 3:15 pm at a Catholic Supply store in westers St. Louis County, near the town of Ballwin. Police said that they were searching for the gunman and that he should be considered armed and dangerous.