Chicago mourns death of police officer following another bloody weekend
Flags across Chicago flew at half-staff on Monday following a weekend of bloodshed that saw two police officers shot, one fatally.
The older brother of killed Chicago Police Officer Ella French praised his sister's integrity on Sunday, calling her "the epitome of a good Samaritan," and he said she had "attributes that you don't find in this world anymore."
Andrew French, an Iraq War veteran, made the remarks one day after his younger sister was shot and killed in the line of duty.
"She's my sister. She's my little sister. And as much as I was there for her when we were growing up, she was there for me. And I was proud of her. I'm still proud of her. Like this is — God took the wrong kid," he told the Chicago Tribune. "I've done some really [expletive] things. Because being in the Army, you don't do beautiful things at all ... but my sister was a wonderful person, in all ways."
French's death was the first fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer in the line of duty since Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019. French is also the first female officer fatally shot on the job in 33 years.
In addition to flags being at half-staff across the city on Monday, French is also being remembered with the raising of a purple and black mourning flag.
CHICAGO OFFICER KILLED AND ANOTHER INJURED AFTER GUNFIRE ERUPTS DURING TRAFFIC STOP
The shooting took place Saturday around 9 p.m. while French, a veteran of the Chicago Police Department for more than three years, and another officer were conducting a traffic stop.
The officers had pulled over a vehicle with two men and a woman inside on the city's notorious South Side. That's when a male passenger opened fire, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said during a news conference. The officers returned fire, striking the passenger who appeared to fire at them. The three people are in custody.
The other officer remains in critical condition.
Both were members of the community safety team, formed by Brown in 2020 to respond to crime hot spots.
Lightfoot called on Chicagoans during the press conference to end the acrimony between people who claim officers act with reckless impunity and others who argue officers are hampered by overly burdensome rules.
"Stop. Just stop," she said. "This constant strife is not what we need in this moment."
In 2021, 38 officers in the city have been shot at, Brown said. Last year, 79 officers were shot at or shot, a 500% increase from 2019.
French and the other officer were among 47 people who were shot in less than 24 hours in Chicago, seven of them fatally.
The laundry list of shootings, muggings, carjackings, and other crimes has become all too familiar in America's third-largest city.
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The violence ramped up Saturday night, with two mass shootings in separate Auburn Gresham nightclubs in the city's South Side.
In one incident, seven people were shot and one killed inside a lounge at about 2:05 a.m. The alleged gunman, 24, shot a 37-year-old man in the neck twice and three times in the back after the two got into an argument. The man was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The gunman was shot eight times before being taken to a nearby hospital and remains in critical condition.
Five others were also injured in the early morning gunfire, including a 56-year-old man who was shot in the elbow, a 23-year-old man who suffered a graze wound to the face, a 37-year-old woman who was shot in the back, a 33-year-old man who was shot in the upper body, and a 38-year-old man who was shot in the stomach.
In another incident, two men and a woman were standing outside when someone in a dark-colored sedan approached them at about 1:10 a.m., shooting all three. The 32-year-old woman was hit in the thigh, while the two men, ages 35 and 19, took bullets to the lower back and elbow.
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In Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, a 25-year-old man was shot six times and a 16-year-old boy was shot twice while they were standing outside shortly before midnight. Authorities said the shots had come from a moving vehicle.
Two men in their 20s were also found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Chicago's Cragin neighborhood. The men, 27 and 28, were found with gunshot wounds to the head in the apartment they shared. The police believe the 27-year-old killed the 28-year-old and then turned the gun on himself.
In another incident, a 27-year-old man told authorities he was standing outside at about 1:45 a.m. when he saw two men in the distance pointing a laser at him. The man was then shot once in the hand. He was taken to the hospital and is in good condition.
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Tags: News, Lori Lightfoot, Chicago, Illinois, Crime, shootings, Mass Shootings, Police, Mayor
Original Author: Barnini Chakraborty
Original Location: Chicago mourns death of police officer following another bloody weekend
