A massive manhunt is underway in suburban Illinois after three suspects reportedly shot and killed a police officer.
According to a report from Chicago station WGN, police are searching for three armed suspects, one black man and two white men, near Fox Lake, Ill, a township of 10,000 about an hour an a half outside of Chicago.
The officer was on a routine patrol around 8 a.m. CT when he went to investigate “suspicious activity,” a Lake County Sheriff’s spokesman said. The officer radioed that he was beginning a foot pursuit before communication was lost, the Chicago Tribune reported. The officer was found wounded when a backup officer arrived, and he died at the scene.
The officer was found stripped of his gun, pepper spray, and other gear. Lake County Sheriff Chief Doug Larsson told NBC Chicago that the suspects are armed with a pistol.
BuzzFeed News reported the officer had pulled over the three suspects for a traffic stop, a report that conflicted with local news media accounts.
Lake County Detective Christopher Covelli declined to say how many times the officer had been shot during an interview on CNN. The network reported that the officer was a 32-year veteran of the force.
Officer are pursuing the suspects with helicopters and K-9 units. The FBI and U.S. marshals are also involved in the search.
A local high school was put on lockdown because of the manhunt, and service on Metra’s Milwaukee District North Line has also temporarily been suspended.
Still on the hunt. Going door to door again too. #FoxLake pic.twitter.com/Qc1yOsKTfA
— Jason Schweitzer (@JSchweitzer19) September 1, 2015
This post has been updated.