CHICAGO, IL – On Thursday night, June 5th, a Chicago police officer was accidentally shot and killed by her partner during a confrontation with an armed suspect on the South Side.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera, 36, was shot in the back, Fox 32 reported. It happened around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday at 82nd Street and Drexel Avenue. Authorities said that Rivera and her partner stopped a man who eventually ran into a building. When officers pursued him, they were confronted by a man with a gun.
“Rivera was in the process of investigating someone in possession of a gun. At some point, a weapon was pointed in the direction of those officers,” said Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Larry Snelling. “How the officer got in between her partner and the person he was firing at we don’t know, but that’s certainly one of the risks of entering a room like that,” he added.
The partner was the only person who fired a weapon and the “gunfire unintentionally struck Officer Rivera,” CPD said in a statement the Associated Press reported. Rivera died at a hospital less than an hour after being shot. Colleagues brought her to the hospital in a squad car that crashed and caught on fire due to a malfunction, Snelling said. She was then transported in another police vehicle.
Rivera was a four-year veteran of CPD and was described as hard-working. She mentored younger officers and left behind a 10-year-old daughter. Authorities are asking the city to pray for Rivera’s family as well as her partner. “That officer is in a very tough place, it’s unimaginable what they’re going through right now,” Snelling said.
Rivera was “young, vibrant, and a hard worker,” Snelling said. She was a “hero,” who joined the department “to make Chicago a better place,” he added. Rivera’s daughter, Bella Medina, said her mother hugged her harder than normal before going to work Thursday. “When she said bye, it’s like she had a feeling. She gave me the biggest hug, biggest kiss, and she said, ‘If anything happens, I’m always right here,’ in my heart,” the 10-year-old said.
The person who allegedly brandished the rifle was taken into custody, the Kansas Star reported. He has been identified as 25-year-old Adrian Rucker and is facing a charge for armed violence as well as firearm and drug charges.
While investigating the scene, police found three weapons. Authorities are investigating the initial stop prior to the deadly shooting.
