Earlier this week, while chasing a suspect, a Chicago police officer was shot and killed by another cop.
Just before 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, June 5, an officer, identified by local media as 36-year-old Krystal Rivera, and her partner were on patrol in the city’s Chatham neighborhood when they tried to stop a man who then fled on foot into a nearby home, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department (CPD).
According to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, Rivera and her partner, who has not been made public, were confronted by another suspect with a firearm as they were pursuing the man.
“The officers followed,” Snelling stated. “They were met in that apartment by a second person with a rifle pointed at the officers. At some point, an officer discharged a weapon. An officer was struck; she was then transported to the hospital, where she later succumbed to her wounds.”
Officers had to wait for another vehicle to arrive and transport Rivera the remaining distance when a police squad car crashed while transporting her to the hospital.
“There was some type of malfunction in that vehicle that caught fire,” Snelling stated. “But assisting officers came in and she was transferred to another vehicle and then driven to the hospital.”
According to authorities, the “gunfire unintentionally struck Officer Rivera,” and the officer was the only one who fired a weapon.
On June 6, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office verified that Rivera’s death was a homicide due to a gunshot wound to her back.
Both the first suspect and the second suspect, who was allegedly armed, were arrested, according to police, while another officer was hurt on the wrist during the altercation.
Rivera, who graduated from the police academy in 2021, was a single mother to a 10-year-old daughter, according to the CPD.
“She was protecting lives and she was a hero and she lost her life tragically doing the job she loved,” Snelling stated. “She wanted to make Chicago a better place, she wanted to make it safer, and we thank her for that.”
When Rivera’s mother Yolanda and daughter Bella looked back on her life, they said she was a good person who loved what she did.
“When she said bye, it’s like she had a feeling,” the 10-year-old stated. “She gave me the biggest hug, biggest kiss, and she said, ‘If anything happens, I’m always right here,’ in my heart.”
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“If you want to think of a good person, a great person, as an example you’ll think of her,” she continued.
According to the police statement, the event is also being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. There are no charges pending.
Snelling stated on June 7 that the agency is “always” assessing its supervision and training regulations and that the inquiry is currently ongoing.
“Until we’ve had the opportunity to really sit down and work these things out, gathering all the information, it will be at that time that we determine what needs to be done to move forward,” he stated.
“Tonight the entire city of Chicago is grieving and mourning together over this tragic loss of one of Chicago’s finest,” Mayor Brandon Johnson continued. “Her young, energetic and bold approach toward keeping us safe is the memory we will honor.”
