Law enforcement Said, the Chicago Police Department has arrested five people of interest in the sh*oting death of a 24-year-old police officer who was found de@d Saturday morning just outside her mother’s home after returning from a night shift.
A source informed Fox News Digital on Monday that four adolescents were arr*sted during a barricade situation at 76th and Bishop streets on Sunday night, roughly five miles from where Chicago Police Officer Areanah Preston was k!lled.
The office of the state’s attorney was reviewing the case and has 48 hours to decide whether to pursue charges or free the suspects.
The Chicago Police Department’s SWAT squad was called to a residence on South Bishop Street at about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, and though the department’s spokesperson indicated they had no new information at the time, they did acknowledge the incident in a statement.
After an armed standoff, individuals were arrested and taken into custody in connection with Preston’s de@th, FOX 32 Chicago Said, citing another source.
It’s unclear if the four people in the SWAT standoff are also potential suspects in the homicide. According to Fox News Digital’s source, a 19-year-old boy was ar*ested in another location.
On Monday, a neighbor of Preston’s informed Fox News Digital that Preston and her mother occupied the house on South Blackstone Avenue. He claimed that his neighborhood, which is full of retirees and working people, had been spared from the city’s wave of violent crime up until Saturday.
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He stated, “They took a life, a life that didn’t have to be taken.” Furthermore, “whatever it was they were after was not worth it.” He said that following the incident, he had a security system installed and cameras placed in and around his home.
The St. Jude Parade, in which thousands of municipal police officers participated to remember their de@d comrades, was held the day before Preston was m*rdered. Authorities say Preston served with the Chicago Police Department’s Fifth District for three years.
According to investigators, Preston got home from work at 1:45 a.m. on Saturday after working the night shift. The cops were notified of gunfire on her street at that time.
“Officers responded and found one of our own suffering gunshot wounds,” Eric Carter, the department’s acting superintendent, said at a somber press conference.
A responding officer helped treat her there before taking her to the University of Chicago Medical Center in a patrol car. She passed away at the same hospital as Officer Ella French of the Chicago Police Department did.
“Right now, we ask that you keep the officer and her family in your prayers, as well as the men and women of the Chicago Police Department, who sacrifice everything, including their lives, on the line for this city every day,” Carter said.
Preston was sh*t while attempting to defend herself from an armed robber, according to the Fraternal Order of Police. Preston, at least according to her Facebook profile, attended Illinois State University and then Loyola University Chicago to study criminology and criminal justice.
According to a statement released by the university, she is scheduled to graduate with her master’s this next weekend. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot condemned the sh*oting as “awful and tragic” and said she has ordered police to “spare no expense” in their search for the perpetrators.
“There are some who say that our police officers are not worthy of our respect,” she said. “There are some who say we should not be supporting and funding our police department. I would urge any person who holds that view to reflect on moments like this.”
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