Chicago police officer, 24, shot and killed right after shift ended and a week from earning master's degree: 'She was going to be the force of change'



A 24-year-old Chicago police officer was shot and killed just after her shift ended early Saturday morning.

Around 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, Chicago Police Department officer Areanah Preston was shot multiple times following her shift on the city's South Side. Fellow officers rushed to the Avalon Park neighborhood and found Preston suffering from numerous gunshot wounds. Officers administered life-saving treatment. Then Preston was loaded into a police vehicle and rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center – where she was pronounced dead.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported, "The shooting happened during an apparent stickup that officials believe might be related to another nearby robbery, according to law enforcement sources, who said Preston’s gun was taken."

Fellow police officers gathered at the hospital to show support for the slain cop, and there was a police procession taking Preston's body to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

There were no arrests in the murder of Areanah Preston.

Preston was described as someone "trying to make a change on this Earth" and to show "young people that policing is a profession that can make a difference in the community."

Professors of Preston at Illinois State University said in a statement:

Areanah stood out the moment we met her. She was an intelligent, thoughtful, and committed young woman. She was an old soul in that she already understood the challenges of minoritized populations, about the lack of justice in these communities and she was going to be the force of change. She already knew that she was going to dedicate her career, her life to the improvement of relationships between police organizations and minoritized populations. Areanah wanted to be the officer who would speak for the most vulnerable in society. She wanted to be the one who would care for the most vulnerable. She cared and she wanted better for everyone.

Preston was set to graduate Loyola University Chicago next week with a Master of Jurisprudence degree.

"She will be remembered by her faculty and classmates for her kindness, intellect, and commitment to service," the university said. "We wish to express our deepest condolences to the Preston family and to all those whose lives she touched."

Just days before her murder, Preston shared her last post on Instagram with her cap and gown. She posted the Isaiah 41:10-12 Bible verse.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.


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Off-duty CPD officer killed www.youtube.com

Illinois police officer's heartbreaking pleas for her life before being murdered with her own service pistol: 'You don't have to do this!'



A disarmed Illinois police officer desperately begged for her life before a heartless thug executed her with her own gun, state officials say.

Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic, 49, was murdered in cold blood on Dec. 29 as she and Officer Tyler Bailey, 27, investigated a noise complaint at a Bradley-area motel.

Bailey was hospitalized after being shot during the attack and is fighting for his life.

What are the details?

Authorities arrested 25-year-old Darius Sullivan and 26-year-old Xandria Harris in connection with the incident.

Jim Rowe, Kankakee County state’s attorney, is pushing federal officials to consider the death penalty for both Sullivan and Harris if convicted, even though Illinois does not perform executions.

Rittmanic and Bailey were responding to noise complaint at the Comfort Inn parking lot in Bradley, where dogs in a car were said to be barking loudly.

According to the Kansas City Star, the police soon determined that the vehicle belonged to Harris and were directed to her room by hotel staffers.

The Star reported that the officers knocked and identified themselves as police officers, telling Harris to open the door. After about 14 minutes, prosecutors said, she finally came out but tried to stop Rittmanic and Bailey from entering the room and arresting Sullivan, who had several warrants out for his arrest.

As the officers told Harris to move out of the way, Sullivan allegedly appeared with a 9mm pistol loaded with a high-capacity drum magazine in his hands.

He then reportedly shot Bailey in the head before opening fire on Rittmanic, striking her once before she escaped and ran down the hall to call for backup.

Harris then reportedly chased the officer and engaged her in a struggle.

According to the Star's report, prosecutors say that Sullivan's pistol had jammed, and he tried to clear it with one hand while attempting to take Rittmanic's service pistol with his other. When Harris got involved, Sullivan was able to take Rittmanic's gun from her.

Rittmanic then began pleading with Sullivan and Harris not to kill her.

"Sgt. Rittmanic was pleading with them to 'just leave, you don’t have to do this, please just go, please don’t, please don't,'" Rowe explained. "She was desperately pleading for her life."

Despite her pleas, Sullivan allegedly shot Rittmanic twice in the neck with her own gun.

He and Harris then reportedly fled the scene and went on the run until investigators closed in on the suspects later in the week and arrested the pair at a home in North Manchester, Indiana.

Authorities have charged the pair with first-degree murder of a police officer and attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

The two are being held without bail.


What else?

Documents obtained by Fox News show that Rittmanic joined the Bradley Police Department in 2007 and was promoted to sergeant in 2014.

A Facebook post from the Bradley Police Department stated that Rittmanic is a 21-year law enforcement veteran and is survived by her wife, Lyn Stua of Kankakee, and her father, James Rittmanic of Naperville, as well as siblings, nieces, nephews, and her beloved pets.

"Marlene believed in people and her ability to speak to the community with respect; meet them where they are in life; try to understand their true needs; and work together to find a solution that produced the least disruption in people’s lives," the post said. "To her — the job was about making the community safe for everyone, she believed and I’m quoting her, 'just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.' She was awarded Law Enforcement Officer of the Year in 2020."

California man dies after being pinned to the ground for 5 minutes during arrest, bodycam footage shows



The city of Alameda, California, released bodycam footage this week of an incident involving police during which a 26-year-old man, Mario Gonzalez, died after officers pinned him to the ground for about five minutes during an arrest.

What are the details?

The incident, which occurred April 19, one day before former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on murder and manslaughter charges for his role in George Floyd's death, is already drawing comparisons in the media to the Floyd killing. During an arrest last May, Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes despite Floyd's repeated complaints that he couldn't breathe.

In the nearly hourlong footage released Tuesday, police appear to wrestle with Gonzalez, restraining him by pinning him facedown on the ground and applying pressure to his legs and back. After several minutes of struggling on the ground, Gonzalez becomes unresponsive and police immediately begin attempting chest compressions.

In both initial and updated reports about the incident, police in Alameda, which is just south of Oakland, wrote that Gonzalez had a "medical emergency" during an altercation with police. The department noted that officers responded to the scene after two separate reports came in about a male under the influence in a public area who may have committed a theft.

Police called his death a "tragedy," but family and friends have accused police of murdering Gonzalez and then lying about it in subsequent reports.

A lawyer for Gonzalez's family, Julia Sherwin, called Alameda Police Department's explanation "misinformation," comparing it to the initial police report released by Minneapolis police after Floyd's death, the New York Times reported.

"His death was completely avoidable and unnecessary," she added. "Drunk guy in a park doesn't equal a capital sentence."

Gonzalez's brother, Gerardo, told a Bay area Fox affiliate, "What I saw was different from what I was told. The medical emergency [that police described] was because they were on his back while he was lying on the ground. It was brought by the officers on top of his head."

Alameda Police Department body-worn camera footage April 19, 2021 www.youtube.com

What does the video show?

In the video, officers arrive at the scene and begin by questioning whether Gonzalez is thinking of hurting himself or others. Gonzalez appears to have difficulty maintaining the conversation.

"Here's the plan," one officer says. "I've got to identify you, so I know who I'm talking to — make sure you don't have any warrants or anything like that. You come up with a plan, let me know you're not going to be drinking in our parks over here. And then we can be on our merry way."

"Merry-go-round?" Gonzalez replies.

The officers at this point begin trying to detain Gonzalez, eventually pushing him to the ground facedown and handcuffing him.

"It's OK, Mario," an officer is heard saying. "We're going to take care of you."

The video appears to show officers putting pressure near Gonzalez's neck, shoulder, and back for about four minutes as Gonzalez struggles on the ground and lets out exasperated whimpers and grunts, saying, "I didn't do nothing, OK?"

Throughout the struggle officers can be heard repeatedly asking Gonzalez to stop resisting.

At one point, one officer asks if they should roll Gonzalez on his side, but another replies, "I don't want to lose what I got."

"We have no weight on his chest, nothing," one officer said, before attempting to adjust his position. Then another stops him, saying, "No, no, no. No weight, no weight, no weight."

Seconds later, officers appear to recognize that Gonzalez had become unresponsive. Then they roll him on his side and immediately begin conducting chest compressions.

Anything else?

The police department tweeted that it "is committed to full transparency and accountability" during subsequent investigations into the incident, which are already underway by the department, the county, and a former San Francisco city attorney hired by the city to lead an independent probe, Fox News reported.

Some media outlets reported that police released bodycam footage of the incident only in response to complaints from Gonzalez's family and members of the community. This is inaccurate. The department stated in its initial report following the incident that footage would be released in the coming week.

Three officers involved in the incident have also been placed on paid administrative leave per the department's standard procedure.

Rashida Tlaib demands end of 'policing, incarceration' after Daunte Wright is killed by police



Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) called Monday for the end of policing and incarceration, claiming law enforcement systems are so broken they "can't be reformed."

Tlaib's comments came one day after Daunte Wright, a black man from Minnesota, was shot and killed during an encounter with police officers, triggering immediate protests in Brooklyn Center, a small town not far from Minneapolis.

Law enforcement claimed the officer who killed Wright did so accidentally, mistakenly discharging her firearm when she meant draw her Taser.

A vigil for Daunte Wright. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

In response, Tlaib declared Wright's death was no accident — but the outcome of a corrupt and racist law enforcement system.

"It wasn't an accident," Tlaib said. "Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence."

"I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed," she added.

It wasn't an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with a… https://t.co/dw14UGo1f4
— Rashida Tlaib (@Rashida Tlaib)1618268726.0

Tlaib also "retweeted" Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who declared policing a "public health crisis."

"Policing is a public health crisis. Mass incarceration is a public health crisis. Housing injustice is a public health crisis. Medical apartheid is a public health crisis. Racism is a public health crisis," Pressley said.

What is the background?

After the death of George Floyd last May, activists began loudly demanding that police departments be defunded, while others called for the abolition of police departments altogether.

However, those efforts ultimately failed.

The Minneapolis City Council, for example, promised to replace the police department with an alternative, community-based law enforcement system. But when violent crime rose there — as it did in 63 of the 66 largest police jurisdictions in the U.S. last year — city leaders were forced to beef up their policing systems.

In fact, the Minneapolis City Council approved in February $6.4 million in additional funding for the city's police department to hire dozens of new police officers.

Meanwhile, moderate Democrats believe rhetoric like Tlaib's not only caused Democrats to nearly lose their majority in the House in 2020, but believe such rhetoric spells electoral disaster in future elections.

"We have to commit to not saying the words 'defund the police' ever again," Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said after the election. "If we run this race again we will get f***ing torn apart again in 2022."