The slain officer was identified by the department as Ella French, on the force since April 2018. Officers involved in the incident were wearing body cameras, and much of what happened was caught on video, CPD Supt. David Brown said Sunday.<\/b>
\nChicago police on Sunday captured the third suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer and the wounding of another the night before during a traffic stop in West Englewood. Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown announced the arrest Sunday morning at CPD headquarters. He said the wounded officer remained in critical condition. \u201cOur officers need this city to pray for their strength, to pray for peace that they are comforted, that their families are comforted,\u201d Brown said. The slain officer was identified by the department as Ella French,29, who had started with CPD in April 2018. French and the other officer were shot during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue in West Englewood. They returned fire, hitting at least one suspect, police said. Officers involved in the incident were equipped with body-worn cameras and much of what happened was caught on video, Brown noted. He commended officers for continuing to show up and do their dangerous work after a night of tragedy. \u201cI\u2019m asking Chicago to wrap their arms around our police officers today and encourage them to continue their great work in protecting us all, he added. All city buildings will have flags lowered to half-staff, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, speaking after Brown and declaring Sunday an official day of mourning. Lightfoot urged an end to constant bickering over police reform, the argument over whether police are over-regulated, or whether they\u2019ve been given free rein. \u201cStop. Just, stop,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cThis constant strife is not what we need in this moment.\u201d While the mayor said \u201cwe need to continue the journey to achieve constitutional, accountable policing,\u201d she insisted \u201cthe police are not our enemies.\u201d She continued: \u201cThey are human, just as we are. Flawed, just as we are…. But also risking their lives every day for our safety and security.\u201d Chicago residents, she said, should remember the danger police officers put themselves in every day. \u201cWhen you see a police officer, say \u2018thank you,\u2019\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cJust say, \u2018thank you.\u2019\u201d Brown said so far this year,38 officers have been shot at, and 11 have been hit by gunfire. Brown declined to release details about the slain officer at her mother\u2019s request, noting the department will delay issuing any information \u201cuntil she is ready.\u201d The wounded officer has been with the department six years, Brown said. He remained at University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was \u201cfighting for his very life\u201d in critical condition, according to First Deputy Eric Carter, who spoke to reporters outside the hospital early Sunday. With him was Lightfoot, who said the officer who died was \u201cvery young on the job, but incredibly enthusiastic to do the work.\u201d Brown had been out of town Saturday to finalize details of his mother\u2019s funeral. On Sunday, he explained that she died suddenly last week. Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose ward covers the shooting scene in West Englewood, took to Twitter on Sunday after the news conference to slam the city\u2019s response to the shooting. \u201cLightfoot, Brown & Carter need to shut up & stop,\u201d tweeted Lopez, a staunch advocate for officers. \u201cLet the families & police process last night\u2019s tragedy in peace [without] confrontation or argument. It\u2019s not about you or your petty feelings. It\u2019s about the brave men & women dealing with a collective pain, only needing our support.\u201d Investigators believe a male passenger in the suspect vehicle first opened fire, prompting the cops to shoot back, Brown said. The alleged shooter was then struck in the exchange of gunfire, the superintendent added. He and another suspect were taken into custody shortly after the shooting, according to police communications from the scene. While the alleged gunman was initially taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Brown said all the three suspects were now being questioned at Area One Headquarters. He declined to comment on what potentially prompted the deadly interaction. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officer-involved shooting, Brown said. An agency spokesman didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. Although Brown said none of the suspects appears to have \u201cextensive\u201d criminal backgrounds, he told reporters the alleged shooter had been arrested for robbery in 2019. He said that case has been adjudicated and resulted in some form of probation. Both officers were part of CPD\u2019s Community Safety Team, created last year. The unit is intended to help forge stronger community ties on the South and West sides. It was started with about 450 officers, and 200 more were added last September. The incident was part of a violent night in Chicago, which also saw two mass shootings in Gresham and several triple shootings. In all, at least 45 people were shot between 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. Diana Luna,37, was at her home Saturday night near the West Englewood shooting watching television with two of her children when she heard what sounded like four gunshots ring out. Startled, Luna then tapped into her home security camera\u2019s feed and saw what appeared to be a person collapsing near the front of her home. The single mother of four had just installed the camera about two months ago, hoping to protect her kids and keep tabs on a yard that had apparently been the scene of some recent petty thefts. Despite those incidents, and being locked between areas with active gang conflicts, Luna said Sunday her sleepy enclave has remained safe since she moved there from Chicago Lawn about three years ago. \u201cYou don\u2019t see these things,\u201d she said of the shooting. Another neighbor, who wouldn\u2019t provide his name Sunday, described the shooting as an isolated incident, saying the block is a haven for families that\u2019s \u201cbasically quiet.\u201d In the Galewood neighborhood Sunday, where French apparently lived until recently, a person who used to live nearby described her as a courteous and \u201cvery respectful\u201d neighbor who usually kept to herself. They said they often would see her playing with her dog in the patch of grass in front of their apartment building before she moved out. \u201cThat\u2019s shocking\u201d said the person, who declined to share his name. \u201cShe was a really good person\u2026 she was respectful. She let us know if she was going to have a party or something they would leave a sign downstairs, \u2018We might have people going in and out.\u2019 \u2026 that was nice.\u201d French had recently purchased a new home in the Parkview neighborhood on the Southwest Side in June, records show. Her neighbor, who identified himself Sunday only as Johnny R., was shocked to learn the fallen officer from recent news reports was the same \u201cdecent person\u201d who lived next door to him. \u201cThat… breaks my heart right there,\u201d Johnny,62, told the Chicago Sun-Times. \u201cShe literally just moved in. Some of the first police calls from the scene described one officer being shot. \u201cOfficer down,\u201d an officer radioed around 9:10 p.m. \u201cI got an officer down,\u201d a police dispatcher repeats. \u201c6-3 and Bell, officer down, officer down, shot twice, shot at police, officer down. \u201cStay off my air, stay off my air,\u201d the dispatcher continues, asking for no unnecessary calls on the channel. \u201cEverybody stay off the air, I got an officer down,6-3 and Bell, start rolling. An officer is heard yelling, in apparent distress, and the dispatcher says, \u201cGive me two ambulances, two ambulances needed for two officers down, two officers down… Get those officers wrapped up going to 6-3 and Bell. I want a perimeter set up three blocks, north south, east, west.\u201d \u201d The last Chicago Police officers who died in the line of duty were Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo, who were chasing a man with a gun on the Far South Side when they were struck by a train and killed in December 2018. The last officer shot to death in the line of duty was Samuel Jimenez, who was killed just a month earlier while responding to a shooting at Mercy Hospital. Three other people died, including the gunman. Contributing: Mohammad Samra<\/p>\n