OAN Geraldyn Berry
5:25 PM – Monday, May 8, 2023
Chicago police have detained five individuals of interest in connection with the death of a 24-year-old police officer who was shot Saturday morning after completing a night patrol just feet away from her mother’s porch, following an armed confrontation.
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A source said on Monday that four people, two men and two women, were detained during a barricade incident at 76th and Bishop street on Sunday night, roughly five miles from the scene of Chicago Police Officer Areanah Preston’s passing. The fifth suspect, a 19-year-old male, had been arrested somewhere else that was not mentioned.
The state’s attorney’s office is reportedly reviewing the charges and they have 48 hours to file charges or free the individuals.
According to the authorities, Preston arrived home at 1:45 a.m. local time on Saturday after working a night shift. She had been targeted by robbers and so police were alerted to shots fired on her street simultaneously.
“Officers responded and found one of our own suffering gunshot wounds,” the department’s interim superintendent, Eric Carter, said.
A responding officer had provided first aid on the site and quickly transported her in the back of a squad car to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she later passed away.
According to the Fraternal Order of Police, Preston was shot while trying to defend herself from an armed robbery. The robbers grabbed her gun and fled as she lay dying.
Police are said to have recovered Preston’s gun and other firearms that had been modified with a switch, or switch-like mechanism, to fire automatically.
The incident was described as “awful and tragic” by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who also ordered police to “spare no expense” in finding the culprits.
Preston had served in the Chicago Police Department for three years in the Fifth District. The CPD has classified Preston’s passing as a line-of-duty death, which entitles her family to financial assistance from the state.
She was reportedly living with her mother during the time of the murder.
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