AVALON PARK — At least five people have been arrested in connection to the shooting that killed off-duty police officer Aréanah Preston this weekend.
Preston had just completed her shift when someone shot her 1:42 a.m. Saturday in the 8100 block of South Blackstone Avenue, officials said.
The attackers passed Preston’s car and circled back in an attempt to rob her, setting off a gunfight, a police source told the Sun-Times. Preston was hit at least twice, and a third bullet grazed her. The attackers took her gun and left, according to the paper.
Preston was taken to University of Chicago Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, interim police Supt. Eric Carter said at a news conference Saturday morning outside the hospital.
Police arrested four people after an hours-long armed standoff Sunday night in the 7600 block of South Bishop Street, according to the Sun-Times. A fifth person was arrested separately. It’s not clear yet if all five were connected to Preston’s shooting, according to the Sun-Times.
A police spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing.
Preston, 24, had worked in the 5th Police District for three years, Carter said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot gave condolences to Preston’s family and urged Chicagoans to respect police officers during Saturday’s news conference.
“It goes without saying, but I’ve directed the superintendent to spare no expense, to make sure we find the people responsible for this and bring them to justice,” Lightfoot said during the news conference. “Of course, that’s cold comfort to a family that is now grieving and has to walk this journey of grief and tragedy that no family should have to walk and certainly not under these circumstances.”
Lightfoot said Preston’s death reminded her of the death of Ella French, a police officer who was fatally shot while on duty and died at the same hospital in August 2021. A 21-year-old man was charged with murder in French’s killing.