Details began to emerge Wednesday afternoon after a Chicago police officer was killed on the city’s southwest side.
According to Chicago Police Sgt. David Brown, officers were called to a domestic dispute Wednesday in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue for a report of a man chasing a woman down the street with a gun.
When officers arrived, a group drove to the front door of the residence, but a second police cruiser encountered the suspect, police said.
A scuffle ensued and shots were fired, and the suspect shot the police officer several times. Brown said the officer shot the suspect in the head.
The officer was taken to Mount Sinai, where he was pronounced dead. The suspect was also taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Details about the officer’s identity were not immediately released. Officials confirmed the officer was a five-year veteran of the force who had just celebrated his anniversary.
According to police, the 18-year-old suspect has a limited criminal record.
Brown said the officer’s family is in other parts of the world and they are still in the know about what happened. He said the department would protect the family’s privacy by releasing information about the officer’s identity.
“I’m asking the city to cover this officer’s family (in prayer),” Brown said. “This is a family of public servants and as you can imagine they take this tragedy very seriously.”
The death is the first line-of-duty death since Detective Joseph Tripoli died of complications from COVID-19 in January 2022.
A total of 557 police officers have died in the line of duty in the city of Chicago.
NBC Chicago
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