Carjacking suspect charged in shooting of 3 Chicago officers

CHICAGO — A convicted felon on parole has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of three Chicago police officers outside a station, authorities said Friday.

Lovelle Jordan was taken to the station on the city’s northwest side after officers arrested him Thursday in connection with a June 26 carjacking in downtown Chicago, police said.

Jordan began firing when an officer opened the door of the squad car they had driven him to the station in, Deputy Chief Brendan Deenihan said. Officers returned fire and wounded Jordan, who faces six counts of attempted murder as well as charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a weapon as a felon.

Jordan was still hospitalized Friday and did not appear in court. Prosecutors said he has been paralyzed from the chest down.

Jordan’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Scott Finger, objected to the bond hearing since Jordan could not appear, the Chicago Tribune reported. A judge ordered him held without bail.

Two of the wounded officers were treated and released from the hospital. The third officer was shot in the chin and remains hospitalized but is “doing well,” Deenihan said.

“He’s not out of the woods by any means … but it appears he’s going to make it,” he said.

Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said during Friday’s court hearing that the officer had been placed in a medically induced coma to prevent damage to his spine.

Police handcuffed Jordan’s hands behind his back when he was arrested, but he apparently was able to move his hands to the front while being transported to the station, Deenihan said.

He said Jordan, 26, was searched before being transported, but police believe he had a gun “extremely secreted, probably very close to his private area” and was able to retrieve the weapon during the ride to the station.

“They didn’t do anything wrong,” Deenihan said of officers who made the arrest. “I will defend them. They’re out there working, they are wrestling with this guy and once again it’s the offender’s action — that’s who’s responsible for shooting the officer in the face.”

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This story has been updated to correct that the suspect’s name is Lovelle Jordan, not Jordan Lovelle, based on updated information from the police department.

Kathleen Foody, The Associated Press