Harvey man charged in killing of Chicago police Officer Enrique Martinez in East Chatham
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Charges were announced in the shooting death of a young Chicago police officer Wednesday.
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Chicago police Officer Enrique Martinez, 26, was killed Monday night just after 8 p.m. as he and others conducted a traffic stop in the 8000-block of South Ingleside Avenue in East Chatham.
According to police, there were three individuals inside the car. One who was in the back seat, police said, grabbed a gun from under the seat and fatally shot Martinez and the 23-year-old driver, who has not yet been identified.
The alleged shooter, who police identified Wednesday as Darion McMillian, 23, of Harvey, initially tried to flee the scene, dragging a second police officer with his vehicle in the process.
He broke into a woman's apartment to cut off his electronic monitoring device from a Will County case, police said.
CPD said the gun used had a switch that made the semi-automatic weapon fully automatic.
McMillian was later taken into custody in the 8000-block of South Maryland Avenue, Snelling said.
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Snelling announced charges in the shooting on Wednesday afternoon along with Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.
McMillian has been charged with first-degree murder of a police officer, first-degree murder, attempted murder of a police officer, residential burglary, unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated use of a weapon by a felon.
Chicago officials' message Wednesday both offered support to the officer's family and a call for change.
"On Monday night, our department and our city lost a hero, when Officer Enrique Martinez was shot and killed protecting the city of Chicago. Today is the first step toward bringing his killer to justice," Snelling said. "We got to be serious about this gun violence that's going on in the city right now; this is the only way we are going to protect the lives of our citizens, protect the lives of our officers and bring down the violence, and the killing and the shooting."
The emotional toll was palpable Wednesday at Chicago Police Headquarters.
"Officer Martinez saved lives even though he knew it could cost him his own," Johnson said.
"We have a gun problem, and we have had a gun problem for a really long time. So, when we have an over proliferation of guns, the likelihood of a deadly outcome increases," Foxx said.
McMillian is due in court Thursday. More details about what led up to the shooting and what happened after will likely come out then.
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