Chicago police shot a 17-year-old boy in the West Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, according to authorities.
The shooting was reported shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday on the 6200 block of South Eberhart Avenue, police said.
Two officers were on patrol near 63rd Street and South Vernon Avenue when they confronted several male individuals on the street, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
The boy fled the scene with his hand in his waistband and one of the officers chased him on foot, the statement said.
The others weren't arrested, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.
During the foot chase, the boy hopped a fence in the area of 62nd Street and Eberhart Avenue, police said.
The boy ignored repeated commands from the officer to stop and refused to remove his hand from his waistband, according to the police department statement.
The officer, who feared for his life and believed the boy was reaching for a weapon, opened fire, striking him in the abdomen, authorities said. The wounded male was then taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital.
Police said the person who was shot was reaching for a shotgun shell that police recovered, but as of early this morning no gun has been found.
William Weeden, a deputy at the Independent Police Review Authority, said the incident is still under investigation and couldn't say whether a weapon was found.
No officers were injured during the incident.
The boy's condition wasn't immediately available.
