EAST ST. LOUIS — An emergency medical technician treating a gunshot victim in an ambulance en route to a hospital was hit by gunfire, police said late Monday.
The gunfire started about 9 p.m. Monday, when two young men who were sitting in a car in the 1300 block of North 51st Street in Washington Park were shot, Illinois State Police Sgt. Dave Wasmuth said.
Both victims had serious injuries, Wasmuth said.
As one of the victims was being taken by ambulance to Kenneth Hall Regional Medical Center in East St. Louis, shots struck the MedStar ambulance, hitting the EMT.
The extent of the injuries to the EMT were unknown, said Herb Simmons, operations manager of MedStar ambulance service.
The EMT was taken to Kenneth Hall hospital and then flown to a hospital in St. Louis. Simmons and several other MedStar workers gathered at Kenneth Hall.
The ambulance shooting happened on Interstate 64 shortly after the gunfire in Washington Park.
Wasmuth said police believe the shootings were related. Illinois State Police and other police agencies were investigating.