An Illinois State Trooper was shot on the Dan Ryan Expressway on Friday, the same day the state police increased patrols on Chicago-area highways due to a rise in shooting incidents.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department confirmed to WBBM-TV in Chicago that the trooper was shot on the Dan Ryan Expressway, near 43rd street. According to WBBM-TV, the trooper was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center to be treated for his injuries.
The trooper’s condition was not released by officials, WBBM-TV reported.
Newsweek has reached out to the Illinois State Police for comment.
Friday’s shooting came on the same day that the Illinois State Police planned to increase patrol on highways in Chicago.
Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said in a statement that beginning on Friday, “preventive patrol presence” will be increased by 157 percent.
“For more than 30 years, patrol of Chicago-area expressways has been a unique duty of this agency and in that time, we have not previously confronted the concentrated levels of gun violence we have faced in 2020 and 2021,” Kelly said in a statement, according to WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
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