4 Dead, Including Officer, In Mercy Hospital Shooting

CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer who was critically wounded during a shooting at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on Monday has died, along with two hospital employees and the gunman, authorities said. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said it was unclear whether the gunman was killed by police or by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Ofc. Samuel Jimenez, 28, was killed during an "active shooter" incident at the Near South Side facility, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Johnson said Jimenez had recently finished his probationary period as an officer. He leaves behind a wife and three children, according to WGN.

Johnson said the shooting unfolded after the gunman confronted his girlfriend, who worked in Mercy's emergency room. According to the Chicago Tribune, the man, who had a concealed carry license, began arguing with Dr. Tamara O’Neal in a hospital parking lot.

That's when an acquaintance of O'Neal's tried to intervene, Johnson said. But the gunman lifted his shirt to reveal a handgun, which prompted the acquaintance to flee into the hospital.

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The gunman then fired on O'Neal, killing her in what Johnson described as a domestic incident. Before fleeing into the hospital, the shooter fired on police as they arrived at the scene following multiple 911 calls. Officers returned fire from a squad car before chasing the shooter into the hospital building, Johnson said.

Inside, more shots were exchanged. During the shootout, Dayna Less, 25, a first-year pharmacy resident, was hit as she exited an elevator, the Tribune reports. Jimenez also was hit, Johnson said.

The gunman eventually was killed in the shootout. Johnson said it was unclear whether he was shot by police or suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

One of the fatally injured women was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the other was transported to University of Chicago Hospital. Both were pronounced dead.

ABC 7 Chicago reported that the gunman also shot at a second officer, but the bullet struck his holster and embedded itself in his gun, and he was not injured.

“The City of Chicago lost a doctor, a pharmaceutical assistant and a police officer all going about their day, all doing what they love,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “This tears at the soul of the city in the face and consequence of evil.”

Federal and state law enforcement officers escorted the ambulance carrying Jimenez's body about 10 miles to its destination at the Cook County Morgue, 2121 W. Harrison St. U.S. flags hung from ladder trucks and fire engines along the route, while online, condolences were offered from police departments and agencies from acorss the country.

The incident happened just before 3:30 p.m. Monday, at the hospital, 2525 Michigan Ave., Guglielmi said. In the aftermath, the public was urged to stay away from the area around 26th Street and Michigan Avenue as officers did "a methodical search" of the building, Guglielmi said in an earlier online update.

The situation was described as an "active shooter" incident by Guglielmi.

After Jimenez was taken to University of Chicago Hospital, his colleagues on the force lined the sidewalk outside the South Side hospital, waiting for updates on his condition.

Hospital officials declared the facility safe at around 4:41 p.m.

"The shooting at Mercy Hospital is over," according to an online update by Mercy Hospital. "Chicago Police Department have secured the hospital and patients are safe."

WATCH: A woman describes to WGN-TV the shooting she witnessed Monday at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.

Emanuel and Johnson monitored the shooting at Chicago's Public Safety Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave., said Adam Collins, the mayor's director of communications. A staging area and warming center was set up at 27th Street and Martin Luther King Drive for the families of victims who might have been hurt in the shooting.

Sources told WGN-TV that the gunman had been in a relationship with a doctor at the hospital and that she was believed to be the intended target.

Chicago police officers walk outside Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on the city's Near South Side on Monday following an "active shooter" incident at the facility. (Photo by Amanda Seitz | Associated Press)