Douglas Davis has faced peril in the past.
As a Cook County sheriff’s deputy and one of a small group who chase down convicts who’ve gone AWOL, Davis has wrestled belligerent offenders and dodged flying bullets.
But nothing in his 17-year career came close to the terror he faced Monday night when a group of young men tried to rob him and then opened fire after he identified himself as an officer.
But for the bulletproof vest wrapped around his torso, Davis might not be alive to tell the story. A bullet meant for his stomach got lodged in the eight-pound Kevlar vest. Another one grazed his left hand.
“I’ve been in some tough ones, but last night, that was scary,” the deputy said Tuesday as he rested at his West Side home. “Without that vest, I could be dead. I guess I’m like a cat with nine lives.”
Davis hit one of the would-be robbers in the leg. Chicago police have four suspects in custody.
Davis returned home from work about 11 p.m. Monday. As he stood in front of his home talking with a teenage neighbor, two youths walked up brandishing handguns.
“They came about eight feet away and said `lay it down.’ Then they started shooting at my neighbor.”
Davis said he quickly identified himself as a police officer, but the youths started shooting at him.
Davis, who already had been hit in the stomach and hand, sprinted to an oak tree for cover and pulled his Smith & Wesson .45 from his hip holster. The group exchanged several rounds of gunfire.
“I think I surprised them,” Davis said. “Once I hit one of them, they all took off down the alley.”
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Davis sprinted after them as they sped away in a car.
Four youths were picked up about 3:30 a.m.