Six police officers have been hospitalized after their police cars crashed into each other while responding to a call.
The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m., on Saturday on Chicago’s West Side. Initially the two cars—one marked police vehicle carrying two police officers and one unmarked police vehicle carrying four officers—both responded to a call from an officer who required assistance, according to ABC News.
The two police vehicles took different routes but ended up crashing into each other at the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Jackson Boulevard.
The Chicago Fire Department responded to the crash and four of the officers were transported immediately to the hospital via ambulance, according to Fox News. The other two officers transported themselves to the hospital.
“It was just a tragic accident. They just happened to be at the intersection at the exact same moment responding to a call of an officer needs assistance and it is just a tragic accident they were both there at the same exact time and they hit each other,” said Sgt. Al Stinitis of the Chicago Police Department, ABC reported.
The police officer who called for help was not involved in the car crash.
The six injured officers were all in stable condition by Saturday night, however, though there is no indication as to how long the officers will be in hospital, or what the nature of their injuries are.
An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Major Accidents Unit. Multiple reports indicated that no traffic lights were present at the intersection where the accident happened.
The investigation is still ongoing, no further information is available at the moment.
Police Officer Killed in Car Crash Off-Duty
An Illinois 0ff-duty police officer was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Jan. 19, according to a statement issued by the Berwyn Police Department.
The accident happened around 6 a.m. on Jan. 19, north of U.S. Route 30.
Officer Charles Schauer, 33, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Joliet off-duty police officer Erin Zilka, reported Fox 32 Chicago.
Zilka, 35, was allegedly driving under the influence when she crashed a 2019 Dodge Durango into a box truck that had been blocking two right lanes of traffic due to an earlier crash with a pickup truck.
Zilka was charged with misdemeanor DUI and driving too fast for the road conditions, according to ABC7 Chicago, and was released after posting bail. Zilka’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, said his client’s blood was below the legal limit, citing Illinois State Police. He said that Zilka was unable to see the crash ahead of her because it was still dark out, adding that “she is devastated.”