Update: Off-duty Chicago police officer killed during possible carjacking

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to reporters outside the University of Chicago Medical Center on April 21, 2024.

CHICAGO — An off-duty Chicago police officer was killed near his Gage Park home early Sunday morning. Initial indications were that the 30-year-old officer may have been killed during a carjacking. CPD Supt. Larry Snelling confirmed that the officer’s vehicle is missing but said the “total motive” for the crime has not been determined.

The officer, a 6-year veteran who would have turned 31 this month, was wearing his Chicago police uniform under an outer garment when he was killed, Snelling said. His firearm was missing when on-duty found his body just steps from his home.

Police were first dispatched to the area after receiving a ShotSpotter alert of four shots fired near the corner of Kedzie and 56th Street around 2:53 a.m. About five minutes later, a local resident called 911 to report shots fired and seeing a man down. The officer had been shot more than once, officials said.

Officers across the city have been told to be on the lookout for the officer’s dark gray Toyota 4Runner, which has University of Chicago specialty plates.

“We have got to focus on the things that matter in this city right now,” Snelling said during a press conference outside the University of Chicago Medical Center on Sunday morning. He called the slain officer “a great officer, a great human being.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson did not appear at the press conference.

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