Man not guilty by insanity after stabbing, CPD shooting during 2022 South Side hostage situation

Chicago police officer seriously injured in incident

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Monday, May 11, 2026 4:34PM
Man charged after stabbing, shooting amid hostage situation: CPD

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A man has been found not guilty by reason of insanity in the attempted murder of a police officer after a stabbing and shooting happened during a hostage situation on the city's South Side in 2022.

At the end of a bench trial Friday, Romaine Heath was found not guilty by reason of insanity on all counts.

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In December 2022, Heath was accused of entering a Roseland home and threatening a woman with a knife, police said. Officers confronted Heath and repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife, but he did not.

WATCH | CPD give update after police-involved shooting

A Chicago police officer was stabbed and the suspect shot during an incident in Roseland Saturday, according to police.

Police then pulled the woman away and one officer deployed a Taser, which was ineffective. Heath then lunged at an officer, striking him in the shoulder and head with a knife. An officer then shot Heath.

An officer suffered stab wounds and was taken to Christ Hospital in serious condition. He has since been released from the hospital.

Heath was taken in critical condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound, police said.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

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