Officials offer $61K reward for information after ATF agent shot while undercover in Chicago

CHICAGO — An undercover ATF agent was in critical condition Friday morning after being shot in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood, according to multiple reports.

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The shooting occurred around 3:15 a.m., according to The Chicago Tribune.

Update 2:40 p.m. EDT May 4: Authorities from multiple agencies are offering a reward totaling $61,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Friday morning's shooting.

“This is a ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach,” Celinez Nunez, special agent in charge of the ATF’s Chicago field division, said Friday at a news conference. “We can’t do this alone, as law enforcement. We need the community’s help to be able to bring these people to justice.”

Nunez said an ATF agent was shot in the face around 3:15 a.m. after he and other officers were ambushed during an investigation. He was in stable condition Friday afternoon.

“He will survive,” Nunez said.

Authorities declined to provide additional details about the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation.

“My message to those responsible is simply this: We will find you,” police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. “We will knock on every door, talk to every witness, watch every piece of video and analyze every piece of evidence. Believe me. You will not get away with this.”

Update 10:20 a.m. EDT May 4: Officials with the ATF said the agent shot Friday morning in Chicago was part of the newly created ATF Crime Gun Strike Force.

The strike force was formed in June with the goal of stopping illegal guns from getting into Chicago and cracking down on people who face gun charges repeatedly, the Tribune reported.

Update 9:50 a.m. EDT May 4: The ATF agent injured Friday morning in a shooting in Chicago is in stable condition and expected to recover, WBBM-TV reported.

The person who shot the unidentified officer remained at large hours after the shooting.

Chicago Police superintendent Eddie Johnson ordered the full deployment of the police department's specialized units to assist ATF officials in the investigation, a police spokesman said.

Original report: The agent was working undercover in a joint mission with Chicago police task force officers, WGN reported.

No one is in custody, and no Chicago police officers were injured, WGN reported.

Luz Campos, who lives several houses from where the shooting took place, was in her kitchen when she said she heard someone say, "Open the door. Open the door," the Tribune reported.

Campos told the newspaper she heard what she thought were fireworks.

"Then the cops were coming," she told the Tribune.

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