Latest news with #friendlyfire
New York Times
15-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
Found: A Lost George Washington Battlefield
Around 1787, George Washington sat down to write some notes for a biographer. He was not a man given to self-reflection. But he wanted to correct the record about his experiences three decades earlier during the French and Indian War, when he had led a regiment of Virginia militiamen fighting alongside the British on what was then the rugged western frontier. It was not all glory. In one passage, Washington recalled the terrible, foggy evening of Nov. 12, 1758. He and his men had ventured from Fort Ligonier, a British redoubt about 60 miles from present-day Pittsburgh, to help another group of Virginians push back a French raiding party but instead ignited a devastating volley of friendly fire. Several dozen were injured, and as many as 14 killed, before Washington, by his account, rode between the two groups of Virginians, knocking away their muskets. Washington, who was 26 at the time, had already had several horses shot out from under him, and during the American Revolution would go on to face British fire more than once. But never, he recalled, had his life been 'in more imminent danger' than on that evening near Fort Ligonier. The friendly fire incident, as the episode is known, is a footnote in the history of the French and Indian War, and merits only a paragraph or two in most Washington biographies. But it has long been part of the lore in this part of western Pennsylvania, where a reconstruction of Fort Ligonier opened in 1953. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
‘I need to understand what happened': Family of Officer Krystal Rivera asks for answers as lawyers announce civil investigation
The family of slain Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera is calling for city agencies to relinquish the investigation of her death and, instead, turn over the probe to the Illinois State Police as they pursue legal avenues. The slain officer's parents and their attorney also asked that the city release the body-worn camera footage that captured the fatal June 5 shooting — despite a standing order from a Cook County judge preventing the public release. Rivera's mother Yolanda and stepfather Rico Thompson, flanked by friends, family and staff at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, said her mother needed to understand what happened June 5 to make Rivera the first CPD officer to die of friendly fire in nearly 40 years. 'I need to understand what happened that night,' Yolanda Rivera said. 'I need to know the truth. Krystal believed in protecting and serving with honor. Please honor her. Let this moment be guided by truth.' Her stepfather echoed that thought, asking city leaders to be open. 'We are here asking both Mayor Johnson and Superintendent Snelling for full transparency,' Thompson said. 'We as a family need answers and believe the people of Chicago deserve them as well.' Attorney Antonio Romanucci stopped short of announcing plans for a lawsuit against the city, but said 'we are looking at all our civil avenues of justice' and that some of those avenues were 'very viable.' Romanucci ticked through a long list of questions about the shooting and said they needed to know more about Officer Carlos Baker, whom the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has identified as the fellow tactical officer who accidentally shot Rivera as she pursued a suspect down a hallway of a Chatham apartment building. Romanucci noted six complaints were lodged against Baker in his relatively short career with CPD, including an allegation that he flashed a gun at a woman he had been talking to while she was on a date with another man inside a restaurant. Other allegations included excessive force and neglect of duty, according to records from the city's Office of Inspector General. 'We believe that the warning signs had been there for years,' Romanucci said. 'He never should have been an officer. In other licensed professions, this type of probationary behavior would have been the end of that person's career.' Rivera and Baker, both part of the Gresham (6th) District tactical team, were trying to make a traffic stop on a suspect and chased him into an apartment at 8210 S. Drexel Ave., police have said. Inside the apartment, they met a man later identified as 25-year-old Adrian Rucker, of Freeport, who allegedly pointed a rifle at them. Prosecutors said that Rivera was running down a hallway when she was shot. Authorities late last month charged Jaylin Arnold, 27, with multiple felonies in connection with Rivera's death. The family had seen some of the body-camera footage that captured the shooting, but Romanucci said they still had many questions about how the attempted arrest and shooting unfolded. 'If that event were as clear as what's being portrayed, we wouldn't be standing at this podium right now,' he said. Although an order from a Cook County judge prohibits the release of the body-worn camera footage pending trial for two people who are in custody in connection with the shooting, Romanucci suggested that the order could be modified at the request of CPD and the Cook County state's attorney's office. 'The shooting incident remains under the jurisdiction of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability,' Chicago police said after the news conference. 'The officer involved will remain on routine administration duties.' The state's attorney's office immediately responded to a request for comment. The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled Rivera's death a homicide by gunshot wound to the back. The Tribune has requested a copy of the full autopsy report, though it's not yet finalized, according to the medical examiner. A CPD incident report from the night of the shooting said Rivera was shot in her left flank. In a short, emotional statement, Yolanda Rivera said she would continue to care for her granddaughter as she mourned her daughter, whom she described as 'the light of my life.' 'We spoke every single day,' she said. 'She was the one that I turned to for comfort, for laughter, for strength. There wasn't a part of my world that didn't include her.' Fatal friendly fire involving CPD officers is exceedingly rare. City records show Rivera was the first Chicago cop in nearly four decades to die by a colleague's bullet. In September 1986, Jay Brunkella, a 39-year-old tactical officer in the Rogers Park District (24th), was among a team of officers conducting surveillance on a longtime marijuana dealer who operated north of Howard Street. Brunkella, an 18-year department veteran, and his partner left their post and tried to take the man into custody. With his police radio in one hand and his pistol in the other, Brunkella's partner struggled to arrest the suspect. During the scuffle, the partner's gun discharged and a bullet struck Brunkella in the chest. He died 12 days later, and the drug dealer was charged with felony murder. A jury later found him guilty and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two jurors, however, soon contacted the judge who oversaw the case to say the conviction was wrong. Three CPD officers told the judge that the officer who shot Brunkella had shot and wounded another CPD officer years earlier, the Tribune reported at the time. Cook County court records show the man appealed his conviction to the state appellate court but was denied. Though two men now face an array of weapons and narcotics charges in connection with the shooting of Krystal Rivera, neither faces a count of murder in her death. A Cook County judge last month granted a motion from the Cook County state's attorney's office that prohibits any city agency from releasing materials related to the shooting — officer body-worn camera and other memoranda — as those criminal cases are pending. Similar orders are often entered in criminal cases that stem from police shootings, and those orders are lifted once a case is adjudicated. Matt McGrath, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said in a statement last month that said the motion is standard in criminal cases. 'To clarify, the motion to shield body-worn camera footage in this case is standard and related to the ongoing criminal prosecution of two defendants charged with serious felony gun and narcotics possession offenses — neither of whom is a police officer,' McGrath said in the statement.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Yahoo
Chicago police mourn Krystal Rivera, killed in line of duty by accidental fire
The Brief Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera was fatally shot by friendly fire during a foot chase Thursday night, with officials confirming only her partner's weapon was discharged. The incident unfolded as officers pursued an armed suspect into a building, where Rivera was accidentally struck. Authorities are investigating the events leading up to the shooting, while the department mourns the four-year veteran and mother of a 10-year-old girl. CHICAGO - Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera was accidentally shot and killed by her partner during a confrontation with an armed suspect Thursday night on the South Side, officials said. "The first question is, was it an intentional fire shot or accidental discharge?" said former CPD Supt. Garry McCarthy. The backstory The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said Rivera was shot in the back. It happened Thursday around 10 p.m. at 82nd Street and Drexel Avenue. Police said Rivera and her partner stopped a man who eventually ran into a building. When officers chased him, police said they were confronted by a man with a gun. "Rivera was in the process of investigating someone in possession of a gun. At some point, a weapon was pointed in the direction of those officers", said CPD Supt. Larry Snelling. "How the officer got in between her partner and the person he was firing at we don't know, but that's certainly one of the risks of entering a room like that," Snelling said. Authorities are investigating the initial stop prior to the deadly shooting. Rivera worked for the department for four years. She was described as hard-working and a mentor to younger officers. She also leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter. Chicago police are asking the city to pray for Rivera's family as well as her partner. "That officer is in a very tough place, it's unimaginable what they're going through right now", Snelling said. The Source The information in this report came from the Chicago Police Department, an interview with former Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy and previous FOX 32 reporting.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Fellow officer ‘unintentionally' shot slain officer while confronting suspect, say Chicago police
CHICAGO — Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer during a confrontation with an armed suspect, according to police, who continued to hold at least two people in custody as of late Friday. The department announced Rivera had been struck by friendly fire about a day after she died. She and her Gresham District tactical team were trying to conduct an investigatory stop in the Chatham neighborhood, police have said, and encountered an armed suspect after chasing a person into an apartment building on the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue. An autopsy conducted Friday found that Rivera had died of a gunshot wound to the back. 'As released in yesterday's preliminary statement, an officer discharged his weapon during the encounter with an armed offender,' the statement read. 'Further investigation revealed the only weapon discharged during this incident was the weapon of the officer, whose gunfire unintentionally struck Officer Rivera.' Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran of the police force, leaves behind a young daughter. She lived in the Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Police said they were continuing to investigate the suspect the tactical team encountered in the apartment, who allegedly pointed a rifle at the officers. 'This offender remains in custody,' the police department said in a statement. 'Detectives also continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the investigative stop preceding the encounter.' At least two people remained in custody as of late Friday night, though Superintendent Larry Snelling said 'several' people were initially arrested following the shooting. Just after the time of the shooting Thursday, officers found and detained a 25-year-old man and 26-year-old woman in a gated yard near an apartment building on the 8200 block of South Maryland Avenue, according to police sources. The man was described in arrest paperwork as being armed with a rifle. According to police sources, authorities had issued several warrants for the man out of Cook, Stephenson and Winnebago counties. The woman had one active warrant out of Stephenson County, according to police sources, and both are listed in arrest records as residents of Freeport in northwestern Illinois. Rivera was the first city police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year. The last officer to suffer fatal injuries on the job was Enrique Martínez, 26. Martínez, who was also assigned to the same 6th District as Rivera, was fatally shot in November in the 8200 block of South Ingleside Avenue — just one street east of where Rivera was killed Thursday. She was widely mourned by city officials and her fellow officers, who praised her work ethic and asked Chicagoans to keep her family in their prayers. Investigators recovered three weapons at the scene and were still reviewing body-worn camera footage, Snelling said after the shooting. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating. After the shooting, police officers took their wounded colleague to the hospital in a squad car, which crashed and caught fire on the way there because of what Snelling described as a malfunction with the vehicle. Another squad car finished the trip, Snelling said, and the officers in the first car were 'doing fine.' 'The way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job,' Snelling said. 'She wanted to make Chicago a better place.' Rivera's mother, reached by phone, declined to comment. In a statement posted to social media, Mayor Brandon Johnson asked Chicagoans to keep Rivera's family in their prayers, especially her young daughter 'who will miss her mom for the rest of her life.' Rivera had an 'unmatched work ethic,' Johnson said. 'Officer Rivera was a hero who served on the force for four years. She had a long career in front of her. A bright future was stolen from her family and from her loved ones,' he said in the statement. Family friend Alicia Headrick described Rivera as someone who was 'unapologetically herself and wanted everyone else to be able to tap into that as well.' Headrick, 28, a Grundy County sheriff's deputy, said she mostly stayed in touch with Rivera via social media. While they occasionally talked about working for two very different law enforcement agencies, Headrick mainly remembered Rivera cheering her on and likened her to an older sister. Rivera had been a single mother for some time and was ferociously independent, she said. '(Rivera) just always wanted to make a life and career for herself and for her daughter,' Headrick said. 'She had a very pure heart that just wanted to serve other people.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Chicago police determine slain officer was unintentionally shot by fellow cop
CHICAGO — Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera was mistakenly shot by a fellow cop during a confrontation with an armed suspect that took her life Thursday, police have announced. In a statement late Friday, the department said that an investigation had reached the conclusion that Rivera was struck by friendly fire. 'As released in yesterday's preliminary statement, an officer discharged his weapon during the encounter with an armed offender,' the statement read. 'Further investigation revealed the only weapon discharged during this incident was the weapon of the officer, whose gunfire unintentionally struck Officer Rivera.' Rivera was widely praised Friday. Earlier in what would be her final shift, Rivera took two guns off the street, authorities said, only to come face-to-face with a rifle later that night. Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran with a young daughter who lived in the Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, was killed after the Gresham (6th) District tactical team she was part of tried to conduct an investigatory stop on a person believed to have a weapon about 9:50 p.m. Thursday in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue. 'The investigation into the aggravated assault of the police officers by the armed offender who pointed the rifle remains ongoing,' the police statement read. 'This offender remains in custody. Detectives also continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the investigative stop preceding the encounter. At this time, no further information is available while the investigation continues.' The statement concluded with a request for prayers for Rivera's family and her partner. An autopsy had found that Rivera was shot in the back. The first Chicago police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year, Rivera was mourned by city officials and her fellow officers, who praised her work ethic and asked Chicagoans to keep her family in their prayers. 'Our officer was young, vibrant and a hard worker,' police Superintendent Larry Snelling said, speaking from the University of Chicago Medical Center early Friday. 'She was a working police officer trying to keep the streets safe.' Flanked by department brass, Mayor Brandon Johnson and other city and state officials, Snelling gave some details about the shooting, but did not offer a full picture of exactly how the shooting unfolded. In response to a reporter's question about the gunfire, Snelling said investigators were waiting on a warrant to search the apartment where the shooting happened. 'Here's the deal: We won't know that until the search warrant is served and we are able to go through that apartment and collect more evidence. The evidence that we collect usually … gives a story of what occurred in there,' Snelling said. 'So until we have all of that information we can't rely on just one source at this time.' Snelling in a news conference that took place hours after the event said the officers first tried to stop someone thought to be armed when the individual ran into an apartment, and the officers followed, he said. There, Snelling said, the team encountered a second person armed with a rifle. One of the officers fired a gun 'at some point' during the confrontation, he said, and another officer was shot, later succumbing to her injuries at University of Chicago Medical Center. 'When the officers followed into that location they were then confronted by a second person who was in that apartment who was armed with a rifle pointed at the officers,' Snelling said. 'At some point the officer discharged the weapon. Our officer was struck. She was then transported by assisting units to the hospital here where she later succumbed to her wounds.' The two people in the apartment ran away and were arrested shortly afterward, Snelling said, though he said officials had 'several' people in custody in connection with the shooting. The department did not specify exactly how many people were in custody as of Friday afternoon. A third officer hurt his wrist and was listed in fair condition, according to a police statement. Investigators recovered three weapons at the scene and were still reviewing body-worn camera footage, Snelling said, and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the shooting. After the shooting, police officers took their wounded colleague to the hospital in a squad car, which crashed and caught fire on the way there because of what Snelling described as a malfunction with the vehicle. Another squad car finished the trip, he said, and the officers in the first car were 'doing fine.' 'The way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job,' Snelling said. 'She wanted to make Chicago a better place.' Rivera's mother, reached by phone, declined to comment. In a statement posted to social media, the mayor asked Chicagoans to keep Rivera's family in their prayers, especially her young daughter who will 'who will miss her mom for the rest of her life.' Rivera had an 'unmatched work ethic,' Johnson said. 'Officer Rivera was a hero who served on the force for four years. She had a long career in front of her. A bright future was stolen from her family and from her loved ones,' he said in the statement. Family friend Alicia Headrick described Rivera as someone who was 'unapologetically herself and wanted everyone else to be able to tap into that as well.' Headrick, 28 and a Grundy County sheriff's deputy, said she mostly stayed in touch with Rivera via social media. While they occasionally talked about working for two very different law enforcement agencies, Headrick mainly remembered Rivera cheering her on and likened her to an older sister. Rivera had been a single mother for some time and was ferociously independent, she said. '(Rivera) just always wanted to make a life and career for herself and for her daughter,' Headrick said. 'She had a very pure heart that just wanted to serve other people.' The last Chicago officer to suffer fatal injuries on the job was Enrique Martinez, 26. Martinez, who was also assigned to the same Gresham District as Rivera, was fatally shot in November in the 8200 block of South Ingleside Avenue— just one street east of where Rivera was killed Thursday. Outside the hospital early Friday, squad cars lined Cottage Grove Avenue for blocks in every direction. A peer support officer walked people, some of them in tears, in and out of the ambulance bay as others in uniform exchanged hugs in the street. In Chatham, the crime scene spanned multiple blocks as law enforcement agencies fanned out in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Cook County sheriff's deputies walked up and down Maryland Avenue near East 83rd Street with rifles and canine units while tactical teams searched nearby alleys with flashlights. As squad cars lined the streets for several blocks in every direction, a police helicopter circled the area, beaming a searchlight. Residents walked their dogs and filmed the scene on their phones, protesting when officers asked them to back up to Cottage Grove so they could expand the crime scene. Officers appeared to zero in on an alley on the west side of Ingleside. A resident leaned out the window of a courtyard building across the street and asked if they needed to get in. Detectives begin combing the front yard with flashlights. Just before noon Friday, a two-man crew arrived at the Gresham District station to affix purple and black bunting on the building's facade, in keeping with CPD tradition after an officer is killed on the job.
