Two, including gunman, killed in shooting spree at Chicago hospital

Representational Image

CHICAGO: Two people were killed and two others critically wounded in a shooting at a Chicago hospital on Monday, and among the dead was the gunman who started shooting in the parking lot and then burst into the medical facility and opened fire, according to local media.

A police officer was among those wounded in the shooting on Chicago`s South Side at Mercy Hospital, officials said. 

Police cars and ambulances swarmed the hospital after the shooting.

ABC7 Chicago and CBS Chicago, citing sources, reported that two people died in the shooting, including the gunman, and that two other people were wounded.

Police searched the hospital, said Anthony Guglielmi, a Chicago Police Department spokesman. The hospital said on Twitter the shooting was over and patients were safe. 

Eyewitnesses told reporters the shooting began in the parking lot before moving into a clinic area inside the hospital.

Police have not commented on a possible motive for the shooting.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Eddie Johnson were on their way to University of Chicago hospital, where the wounded police officer was being treated, according to local media.

Sue Jimenez, the manager of Kozy`s Cyclery bike shop near the hospital, said she heard multiple gunshots separated by pauses. At one point, she heard five shots in quick succession, she said, but the shooting stopped after police arrived.