CHICAGO — Another Chicago police officer could have been seriously injured in Monday's shooting at Mercy Hospital, if it wasn't for his holstered gun.
The bullet penetrated the holster and stopped in the officer's gun. A few inches either way, and the officer would have been severely wounded.
A Chicago police officer, an emergency room doctor and a first-year pharmacy resident were all killed in the attack.
The gunman, who's been identified as 32-year-old Juan Lopez, confronted Dr. Tamara O'Neal in the hospital's parking lot Monday afternoon. The two had been engaged, but O'Neal reportedly called it off recently.
A witness told WGN Lopez was asking O'Neal for the engagement ring back. When O'Neal said she didn't have it, he started shooting.
Samuel Jimenez, Tamara O’Neal, Dayna Less
Officer Samuel Jimenez, 28, rushed to the scene to provide backup to other officers who were already there. He was killed in a shootout with the gunman, who took cover inside the hospital.
Pharmacy resident Dr. Dayna Less, 25, a recent graduate of Purdue University, was shot and killed as she was getting off an elevator.
Lopez was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. It's unclear at this point, if he took his own life.
