Bradley Police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic remembered as 'wonder woman' year after killed in line of duty

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (WLS) -- Thursday marks one year since Bradley Police Sergeant Marlene Rittmanic was killed in the line of duty.

Her friends and loves ones gathered at the Comfort Inn in Bourbonnais, the same hotel where Rittmanic and her partner Officer Tyler Bailey were both shot in 2021.

Sergeant Marlene Rittmanic is remembered an as "wonder woman" by her family and the community she served.

"Even through her last minute, she tried to get people -- people she didn't know -- to do the right thing," said Kathleen Rittmanic-Emme, Sgt. Rittmanic's sister. "It didn't work this time and now my sister's gone."

"She was always there to help people, no matter what the situation," said Jennifer Whitaker, Sgt. Rittmanic's niece. "She wasn't a police officer that just responded to something."

It's been a year since the 49-year-old Bradley police sergeant lost her life in the line of duty.

RELATED: Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic killed in hotel shooting, partner injured

Sgt. Rittmanic and her partner, Officer Tyler Bailey, were both shot while responding to a call about a barking dog at a Bourbonnais hotel.

It's just a senseless, senseless crime," Rittmanic-Emme said.

It's the same place where Rittmanic's family is remembering her a year later.

"To actually be able to remember, the community coming together tonight and honoring her rather than driving by it thinking about the horrible things than happened there,' Whitaker said. "These are people that go out and put their lives on the line to serve and protect us and it's time that we as citizens of every community start showing them the respect that they deserve and honoring what they do every day."

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Sgt. Rittmanic's loved ones said moving forward, they hope to honor her legacy by bringing the same positivity she brought to others.

"If you saw her, you knew that that was one of the officers that would always be by your sid," Rittmanic-Emme said. "She's my hero. She's all of our hero and life's never going to be the same without her."

The Bradley Police Department is holding a memorial service for Sergeant Rittmanic Friday at 10 a.m. The service is closed to the public, but it will be live-streamed on the Bradly Police Department's Facebook page.

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