Illinois police conducting death investigation after trooper dies from gunshot wound

Updated: Oct 2, 2021 / 12:58 PM CDT

Illinois police respond to an officer being shot on the highway. (WGN-TV)

This image provided by the Illinois State Police, shows ISP District Chicago Trooper Gerald Mason, who died Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, after being shot on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago, authorities said, on the same day the state started stepping up patrols in response to a surge in shootings involving motorists in the city. (Illinois State Police via AP)

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — An Illinois state trooper shot on a Chicago freeway Friday afternoon has died at a hospital. Illinois State Police said a death investigation is underway.

The trooper was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, according to the Chicago Department.

At around 1:45 p.m., police responded to the area of 43rd and the Dan Ryan Expressway on the report of a shooting. The Dan Ryan is a nearly 8-mile stretch of Interstates 90 and 94 that go south from the city.

This comes on the same day that Illinois State Police stepped up enforcement efforts on Chicago highways. At least 185 attacks have occurred this year, compared to 128 in 2020.

“We have not previously confronted the concentrated levels of gun violence we have faced in 2020 and 2021,” said Brendan F. Kelly, state police director. “We must dedicate the greatest resources to the greatest need, and right now the greatest need is here, on Chicago’s expressways.”

NewsNation affiliate WGN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.