56-year-old man shot in neck, crashes car into light pole in Garfield Park early Wednesday, Chicago police say

CHICAGO — A 56-year-old man was critically injured after being shot in the neck and crashing his car into a light pole early Wednesday morning in Garfield Park on the city’s West Side, according to Chicago police.

The man was inside a vehicle in the 3800 block of West Harrison Street just before 4 a.m., police say, when he was a approached by two male offenders, one of them armed with a gun. The offenders fired one shot, according to police, hitting the victim in the neck.

The victim then drove off and crashed into a light pole at W. Harrison St. and South Independence Boulevard, knocking it over and shutting down the bridge over I-290 there during the early-morning commute Wednesday.

The bridge has since been reopened after crews towed away the victim’s car and worked to remove the fallen light pole.

After crashing his car, the victim was discovered with a gunshot wound to the neck and was taken by the Chicago Fire Department to an area hospital in critical condition, police say.

The offenders, meanwhile, fled the scene, and police say nobody is yet in custody.

No other information is available, and police continue to investigate.