One dead, two wounded in shootout at Union Station

CHICAGO (AP) - A shootout between a police drug unit and two suspects in Union Station killed one person, injured two and sent waiting train passengers diving for cover Tuesday.

The officers had tried to stop the two men to question them, but one of the suspects grabbed a female officer and there was an exchange of gunfire, police spokesman Pat Camden said.

One of the suspects was killed, the policewoman was shot in the leg, and the other suspect, also hospitalized, was in critical condition, Camden said.

It wasn't immediately clear who shot whom, police said.

The shooting took place in the Amtrak concourse of the sprawling station next to train platforms, police said. They wouldn't say if the suspects were passengers, but a witness said the two men had just stepped off a train.

''When they got off the train, they apprehended them right in front of where the lounge was for Amtrak. They tried to grab the bags and take the bags away from them. There was a struggle, and during the struggle, they pulled guns,'' said Inez Hart, a traveler from Africa who had been in the waiting room.

''The bullets came flying right through the window where we were, and glass shattered everywhere. Everybody had to drop to the ground, the whole waiting area, and we crawled like we were in a movie, an action movie,'' she said.

Camden said the police unit included an agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a Amtrak police officer and the wounded city policewoman.

The wounded officer was in good condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Camden said. The wounded man was in surgery in critical condition, said Northwestern spokeswoman Kelly Sullivan.

An Amtrak worker said he was headed to lunch when the shootings happened.

''All of a sudden about 25 men were running and screaming 'They're shooting.' They knocked me down,'' said Peter Noto, a passenger service agent. ''I heard gunshots all over the place.''

The shots ''were over in about 10 seconds, just pow-pow-pow-pow,'' said Richard Lloyd, 57, of who had arrived from Los Angeles. ''And then we looked over there, and there were two people lying on the ground.''

Police said most of the station remained open and rail traffic returned to normal about an hour after the shooting.