Officer Shot In Thigh On Far South Side

UPDATED 10/14/11 5:13 a.m.

CHICAGO (CBS)-- A Chicago Police officer was in good spirits Friday morning, after he was shot while chasing a suspect on the city's Far South Side.

As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, the 27-year-old officer was back home Friday morning after being treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The shooting happened in the 13200 block of South Langley Avenue in the Altgeld Gardens public housing development, around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Two Calumet District officers approached a group of four men hanging out in a parking lot, and one of the men ran away as soon as he saw police.

The officers noticed he was holding his waistband, so they chased after him. About a block away, police said the man turned around and opened fire.

The suspect had fired six shots at police, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said.

A bullet struck the officer in his right thigh.

"The officer is very lucky, because the femoral artery, I believe it is, runs right next to where the officer was shot. He easily could have died," police Supt. Garry McCarthy said at the scene, "27 years old, and about two years on the job."

The shooter, who was a teenager, was arrested soon after the incident. Police say a gun was also recovered at the scene.

McCarthy said the officer was in good spirits, and was even joking around, Thursday night.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.