Suspect in shooting that killed Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins facing murder charges
A Chicago man accused of fatally shooting an Oak Park detective Friday has been charged, Oak Park officials announced Saturday.
Jerrell Thomas, 37, of North Lawndale, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to Oak Park officials. Thomas has previously arrests on charges of aggravated battery to a police officer, resisting a police officer and domestic battery.
Just after 9:35 a.m. Friday, the Oak Park Fire Department responded to a shooting in the 800 block of Lake Street and found Det. Allan Reddins shot in the left side, Oak Park police said. A short time before the shooting, a man was seen leaving a Chase Bank branch in the 1000 block of Lake Street with a gun, which prompted the initial response.
Reddins, a 40-year-old Chicago resident and five-year veteran of the Oak Park Police Department, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood in critical condition and was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said. It’s the department’s first line-of-duty death since 1938.
“He was just a natural leader, he’d always take the extra step,” Oak Park Police Chief Shatonya Johnson said Friday during a late-afternoon media briefing.
Thomas was shot in the leg and is being treated at Loyola University Medical Center for “non-life-threatening injuries,” according to Oak Park officials. No bond hearing has been set.
As part of routine for shootings when an officer is killed, the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is helping with the investigation, Oak Park officials said.
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