Three Officers Shot In One Week’s Time — A Grim Reality In This City
(USNewsMag.com) – Chicago is no stranger to violence. The Windy City has experienced so many shootings, it has been given the unofficial nickname of “Chi-Ra,” a nod to the perpetual war zone in Iraq. Recently, it has become an incredibly dangerous city for the police.
On June 5, three police officers were in an unmarked police car in the South Side neighborhood when they tried to pull over a car. The suspect pulled into a dead-end alley where he exited his vehicle and started shooting at the police. One of the officers in the car was hit in the arm and chest with gunfire and was taken to a nearby hospital in serious but stable condition.
BREAKING: A Chicago Police Officer from the 7th Dist. @ChicagoCAPS07 has been shot. TheOfficer is being transported to the University of Chicago Hospital. Condition unknown. PIO in route to the hospital. Further details to follow.#ChicagoPolice
— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) June 5, 2022
A day after the shooting, Officer Fernanda Ballesteros was released from the University of Chicago Hospital after being shot earlier in the week in a separate incident. Ballesteros and her partner had tried to stop a car on June 1 when it sped off. Eventually, it slowed and when officers pulled alongside the vehicle the suspect began shooting and drove away, leaving one officer with a gunshot wound in the shoulder. The wounded officer thanked her partner who pulled her to safety after she was shot, and called him her “guardian angel.”
In addition to the two Chicago officers who were shot, a US Marshal and his police dog were wounded by gunfire while serving a warrant.
Copyright 2022, USNewsMag.com
