A shootout that left one person dead and four others injured in Chicago was the result of retaliatory violence between two rival gangs, police Superintendent David Brown said Wednesday.

First responders were interrupted by a crowd of people when they arrived Tuesday in the South Side neighborhood and tried to provide first aid, police Commander Don Jerome of the Ninth District said.

“Officers immediately attempted to perform life-saving measures on those that were shot, and they were met by a hostile crowd,” Jerome said at a Tuesday news conference. “Members from the community and gang members from this crowd were actively fighting the police while they were trying to attend to the victims.”

One person died, and two others suffered critical injuries, he said. The other two people who were shot are in stable condition, police said. No officers were injured, Jerome said.

In an update Wednesday, Brown said two officers were “battered” by two individuals, who were then arrested for battery to a police officer. Two rifles were recovered at the scene, Brown said, as were several casings from fired weapons.

The shooting was part of a broader recent trend of rising retaliatory violence between two rival gangs, the superintendent said. Members from one gang were in a car when they saw members from the rival gang, he said, and the groups immediately exchanged gunfire.

{snip}

The violence between the two gangs has been escalating since April, Brown said, following the killing of one high-ranking gang member’s brother. {snip}

{snip}