CHICAGO --
A Chicago police officer was fatally shot outside the Belmont Area police headquarters overnight.
A female suspect was also shot and wounded at the same North Side location.
Richard Francis, 60, of an unknown home address, was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center at 2:57 a.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said. Francis was a 27-year veteran of the Chicago police force.
Police News Affairs Officer David Banks said it happened just before 2 a.m. in the 3200 block of North Western Avenue, in an intersection directly outside the police department's Belmont Area headquarters, where a detective division and police district are located.
Francis, on routine patrol from District 19, was at the scene of a "disturbance" and approached a woman. A struggle then ensued between the officer and the woman and she grabbed the officer's service weapon and shot him, Police Superintendent Jody Weis said.
The woman then threatened responding officers, who shot and wounded her, according to Weis. The woman was reported in critical condition.
Both the officer and the suspect were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
NBC5's Kim Vatis reported that a number of police officers and grieving family members gathered at the emergency room early Wednesday. As the officer's body was taken from the hospital, officers saluted him, Vatis said.
"Our focus right now is on his family. It's a tragic loss for the family and it's a terrible loss for the Chicago Police Department," Weis said outside the hospital.
Investigators continued to work at the scene of the shooting in the early-morning hours.
Police officials are expected to make a statement later in the morning.
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