CHICAGO (CBS) — A police officer was trailed from his workplace and shot at on the South Side.

CBS 2’s Mike Puccinelli has more from the Sixth District police station at 78th and Halsted.

It’s where sources said a three-year veteran officer left the station Tuesday night and soon noticed he was being followed. A little more than a half mile away, police said someone tried to kill him.

The police officer who was at the wheel of a Grand Cherokee wasn’t shot, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.

“I heard multiple gun shots, at least twelve,” said a former police officer who didn’t want to reveal his identity. He said the shots were rapid fire.

“It sounded like an automatic,” said the ex-officer.

It was just before 10:00 Tuesday night when he heard the barrage of bullets.

“The first thing I did was duck away from the window. I did hit the floor,” he said.

It happened at the intersection of 81st and Washtenaw. By the time the former CPD officer looked out the window, he saw a car peeling away from the scene.

“I just seen the taillights,” he said.

Police said it happened after a gunman jumped out of a gray Dodge and began firing at the officer’s vehicle.

“From my kitchen window, I counted at least eight shell casing placards,” said the man.

Then he went outside and saw more.

“There was at least five shell casings here,” he added.

Police said the shooter got back in the Dodge Caravan and sped away. The off-duty officer, unhurt, drove his bullet riddled jeep a half a mile south to 85th and Washtenaw where it may have broken down due to a flat tire.

Sources told CBS 2 that the officer noticed he was being followed by a gray Dodge Caravan just minutes before he said he was openly attacked.

The officer never fired his weapon despite being shot at.

So far police have made no arrests in the case.