Cops: Gunfire before Chicago bus crash, 11 hurt

[March 30, 2011]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Gunfire from a moving vehicle preceded a multi-car accident that sent a Chicago bus crashing into a utility pole and injured 11 people Tuesday morning, police said.

No one was shot when gunfire erupted around 9:30 a.m. on the city's South Side, Chicago police spokesman Mike Sullivan said. Two people were hospitalized in serious to critical condition, though many of the injuries were caused by shattered glass, authorities said.

Police and Chicago Transit Authority officials said a car crashed into the city bus, which then ran into the pole. Authorities wouldn't say whether the shooting caused the crash or targeted one of the vehicles involved.

"Detectives continue the investigation and will review any surveillance video in the area," police said in a statement late Tuesday.

No arrests have been made.

Some witnesses reported seeing gunmen get out of a truck and start firing, and said their target appeared to be the first vehicle.

"These young guys stepped out with AK-47s or Uzis or something and shot up the whole block," Al Perkins, a cook at Ryan Anthony's restaurant in the neighborhood, told The Chicago Tribune.

Police would not confirm that gunmen were ever outside a vehicle or any other witness reports.

Eleven people were taken to hospitals, including two who were hospitalized in serious to critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Three people refused treatment at the scene.

Sullivan said many of the injured were hurt by glass that shattered during the accident, including the bus driver who had cuts on his hands.

CTA spokeswoman Wanda Taylor confirmed that a westbound bus was involved in a multi-vehicle accident around 9:35 a.m. She had no further details.

[Associated Press]

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