CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer was killed and two others — including another officer — were wounded in a gunfight Saturday in West Englewood, officials said.
The shooting happened 9:08 p.m. in the 6300 block of South Bell Street. Three officers had pulled over a car with three people inside when one of the people, a passenger, shot at the police, Supt. David Brown said at a news conference.
Two officers were hit. One, a 29-year-old woman with three and a half years at the Police Department, was killed. Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office later identified her as Ella French. She is survived by her mother and brother, Brown said.
A second officer, a man with six years on the force, was wounded. He remained hospitalized in critical condition as of Sunday morning, Brown said.
“We need your prayers,” Brown said. “We ask that this officer’s family be lifted up in prayer for healing.”
The officers shot back at the alleged gunman, hitting him, Brown said. He was hospitalized.
That man and two other people who were in the car — a man and a woman — were taken into custody and are being interviewed, Brown said. They have not been formally charged with anything and do not appear to have “extensive” criminal histories, Brown said.
A gun was found at the scene after the shooting, Brown said.
Brown refused to say why officers pulled over the car.
“We have some thoughts, but I think what we believe is the interviews with the offenders will reveal from their statements to us all of that information,” Brown said. “We’re gonna withhold us guessing at why the stop happened and really listen to what the offenders are saying since they’re being interviewed now.”
Throughout 2021, 38 Chicago police officers have been shot or shot at, Brown said; 11 have been hit. The officer who died Saturday night was the first officer to be fatally shot this year.
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