UPDATES WITH THIRD MAN CHARGED
A third man has been charged in connection with the shooting of a Chicago Police officer and armed robbery of a T-Mobile store Friday afternoon.
Dante Jeffries, 27, faces seven felony charges after he was arrested just after 10:30 p.m. on Saturday in the 600 block of West Hubbard, according to Chicago Police.
Jeffries and two other men, 20-year-old Donzell Grant and 24-year-old Cortez Harrington, were in the group that allegedly shot the officer near 43rd Street and Ashland in a chase that followed the robbery, police said. The injured officer, a woman, was treated for her injuries at Stroger Hospital and released Friday night.
Minutes before the shooting, they had walked into the store about 1:30 p.m., announced a robbery and tied the male employees in the back of the store, according to police. They left with an undetermined amount of merchandise, police said.
Victims pointed officers in the direction the suspects ran, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson told reporters outside the hospital.
After they got out of their squad car, “one or more offenders” opened fire on the two officers. The female officer — who has been with the department for about 2 1/2 years — was shot in the left leg, Johnson said.
The two officers returned fire, and the wounded officer’s partner chased one of the suspects and took that person into custody in a nearby alley, Johnson said.
A weapon was recovered, “but we’re still trying to make the determination with the ATF whether or not that weapon was involved in the incident,” Johnson said at the time.
Jeffries, who lives on the Near West Side, faces the following felony charges:
- Two counts of attempted first-degree murder;
- Two counts of armed robbery;
- Aggravated battery;
- Aggravated discharge of a firearm;
- Aggravated vehicular hijacking; and
- Kidnapping while armed with a firearm.
He was scheduled to appear in bond court Tuesday.
A judge ordered Grant and Harrington held in lieu of bond Monday. They also face seven felony charges:
- Two counts of attempted first-degree murder;
- Armed robbery;
- Aggravated battery;
- Aggravated discharge of a firearm;
- Armed kidnapping; and
- Aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm.