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Ambulance Drives Into Shootout During Violent Overnight

(STMW) --Chicago Fire Department paramedics had to call for help early Saturday found themselves in the middle of a West Side shootout that left two people critically injured.

The shooting happened at 12:26 a.m. in the 3400 block of West Lake Street, near the Green Line "L" tracks and Garfield Park, authorities said.

An ambulance happened to be headed westbound on Lake Street at that time, and noticed some people crouching down behind cover, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said.

But when the paramedics heard gunshots, they realized they were approaching crossfire. They ducked and got to a safe place before calling for police backup, Langford said.

The shooting left one person shot in the head, and another shot in the chest, Langford said. The paramedics who saw the shooting, along with help from a second ambulance crew, took them to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Both were males in their late teens or early 20s, and were critically injured, authorities said.

No fire department officials were hurt, and no bullets hit the ambulance.

Area North detectives are investigating.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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