
A massive manhunt is underway north of Chicago after a 32-year veteran police officer was shot dead while on a routine patrol.

Three armed and dangerous suspects, two white and one black, are at large after Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was gunned down in Fox Lake near the Illinois-Wisconsin border, at around 8am.

The cop, a father of four nicknamed GI Joe, was found in a marshy area stripped of his gun and other equipment by the trio who then fled the scene.

Scroll down for video

A manhunt is underway in a Chicago suburb after a police officer was reportedly shot dead while on a routine patrol. Heavily armed officers prepare to head out and search for the suspects

Armed men were seen around the Illinois town trying to hunt down three suspicious men

Law enforcement have identified the dead officer as 32-year veteran Charles Joseph Gliniewicz

Three armed suspects, two white and one black, are at large following the shooting in the Fox Lake area. Hundreds of members of law enforcement have been sent to the area to join the search

A sniper and a lookout stand on top of a roof searching for the three men following the killing of the officer. Reports suggest he was a 32-year veteran of the department

Two police helicopters were deployed in the search, launched after the officer was killed on his morning patrol

According to the Northwest Herald he served in the Army, both active-duty and reserve, from 1980 until 2007, and left as a first sergeant, according to sources.

He was also part of Fox Lake's Explorer program which helped school students who wanted to become police officers.

FBI and US Marshals are part of the huge the search which covers a vast area near Route 21 - a major highway connecting Chicago, which is around 60 miles south.

Residents have been told to stay in doors and local schools were been placed on lockdown.

A statement from Grant Community High School said students were being kept in classrooms and were being checked on a constant basis.

Lake County Undersheriff Raymond Rose has urged citizens to call 911 if they see anyone in the area they don't know.

SWAT teams and heavily armed officers have been going door-to-door in a bid to track down the suspects while K9 units have been sent into surrounding wooded areas.

Metra Milwaukee have also suspended commuter train services and the FAA have imposed a two-mile no-fly zone around the search area.

Helicopters have been spotted scouring swampy areas near Route 59 and Rollins.

It took place just before 8am (CT) when the officer was patrolling and saw three suspicious suspects.

Reports suggest he was in pursuit of the three men and had radioed in to inform colleagues of his location. It's not known how many details he was able to give about the perpetrators.

A short time later, after asking for backup, radio contact with the officer was lost. He was found with gunshot wounds and was stripped of his gun and other equipment.

It is not known whether he was killed with his own weapon or was gunned down by the suspect's firearms.

Illinois Congresswoman Barbara Wheeler was one of the first politicians to react to the callous shooting.

She released a statement saying: 'As information continues to come in about the shooting of another police officer in the line of duty in Fox Lake,

A police helicopter patrols a swampy area near Route 59 and Rollins in Fox Lake, Illinois

A sniper perches on top of a roof inside the search area. The FAA has also established a two-mile no-fly zone

A helicopter hovers close to the ground, causing grass to fly up, while another armed officer holds a position next to a set of train tracks

A law enforcement member wipes his eyes(left) while another heavily-armed officer walks through grass during a search for three armed suspects in the shooting of a Fox Lake police officer

Law enforcement members in a helicopter scan a tree line for the suspects who fled the scene in the wake of the shooting

One of the helicopters involved in the huge manhunt touches down on a field next to a set of train tracks

Snipers and spotters are stationed on various rooftops in the area in a bid to find the escaped gunmen

Police are seen leaving a house in the search area this afternoon. Schools were locked down for fear of the armed suspects

A policewoman walks along one of the many blocked off roads in the area surrounding the shooting

Police with heavy weapons were seen getting ready to flush out the suspects, who have not been seen since the killing

In the image above two members of the search sit by a railway line while a helicopter flies overhead

'I hope we can all remain calm and pray for the officer’s family and the other officers in harms-way right now.

'Eleven police officers have needlessly lost their lives since Aug. 20th alone in America because of shootings and sadly our communities have been directly impacted today'

Fox Lake was once a popular vacation spot where a lot of people from the Chicago area owned second homes.

However a lot of those properties have now been converted for middle class families.

It comes just four days after Texas sheriff's Deputy Darren H. Goforth was shot and killed while filling up gas in Harris County.

Sheriff Ron Hickman blamed the Black Lives Matter movement for the cold-blooded killing.

A motivation for the shooting in Illinois is not yet known.

The scenes are reminiscent of the operation that was launched when Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York on June 6.

The manhunt lasted three weeks before Matt was shot dead by police while Sweat was captured.

A dog unit was among the hunters, who were operating all around Fox Lake, which is some 40 miles north of Chicago

A heavily-armed officer joins in the search for the three suspect in the heavily-wooded, marshy area

Tactical units arrive at the scene. The area has been placed on lock down and commuter trains going through the community have been suspended

Officers are spotted on railway tracks inside the search area. The shooting was near a main highway that connects Chicago to the outer suburbs

The officer was shot in the normally peaceful community around 60 miles north of Chicago

Police officers gather as they search for suspects after a police officer was shot dead on Tuesday

A cop points to an area of field alongside his patrol car in Fox Lake

SWAT teams have been going door to door in a bid to track down the alleged killers