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A group of Chicago police turned their backs on Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Saturday during her visit to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where two police officers were hospitalized after being shot during a traffic stop.
One of the officers, Ella French, 29, later died of her injuries. The second officer’s father, himself a retired Chicago Police officer, berated Lightfoot and blamed her for the incident, a source told Chicago Sun-Times.
Lightfoot listened to the father, then attempted to speak with the other officers present. However, the group of officers walked away with their backs to the mayor.
“They did an about-face, it looked like it had been choreographed,” one person told the Sun-Times.
“In a time of tragedy, emotions run high and that’s to be expected. The mayor spoke to a range of officers that tragic night and felt the overwhelming feeling was concern for their fallen colleagues, ”the mayor’s office said in a statement Monday.
“Now is the time for us to come together as a city,” the statement continued. “We have a common enemy and these are the conditions that breed violence and manifestations of violence, namely illegal guns and gangs. “
Southwest Alderman Matt O’Shea said Chicago police morale hit an “all-time low” in comments at Chicago Tribune. The 19th O’Shea Hall houses a number of officers.
“We have drastically reduced the number of officers. They rush to the exits. They leave the police. They are looking to get hired by suburban municipalities. They feel the leadership in Chicago is not supporting them, ”O’Shea said.
The incident comes amid a continued high number of homicides and shootings compared to previous years. Chicago recorded 105 murders in July 2021, up from 107 in July 2020 but up from 44 in 2019. Police have so far recorded 445 homicides for 2021, up from 446 during the same period in 2020 and 290 in 2019.
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