Yesterday afternoon, gunfire broke out between police and a suspect in Cicero, Illinois after a traffic stop gone bad. One officer was hit four times, but a legally armed citizen got out of his car and came to the aid of the officers and engaged the suspect.
“We were lucky enough to have a citizen on the street there who’s a concealed-carry holder, and he also engaged in gunfire,” Cicero Police Supt. Jerry Chlada Jr. said outside Mount Sinai Hospital, where Duarte was undergoing surgery Thursday night.
The suspect was hit once and taken into custody, but not before shooting Officer Luis Duarte four times.
The suspect kept running and shooting at the officers as Duarte and his partner returned fire, officials said. That’s when someone sitting in traffic on Cicero Avenue got out of his car and began shooting at the suspect as well, Chlada said.
The suspect was hit once and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, according to Chicago police. It wasn’t clear if the bullet that hit him came from the officers or the concealed-carry holder.
Cicero town President Larry Dominick commended the citizen shooter, who has not been named.
“He got out and started helping the police, which is something I’ve got to be proud of,” Dominick said.
As the number of lawful gun owners and those with concealed carry permits increases, instances of citizens coming to the aid of police is increasing. In the last few years we’ve seen armed citizens saving police officers in Utah, in 2018, in 2017 an armed woman in Georgia saved a sheriff’s deputy and an Arizona armed citizen saved a state trooper. In 2016, armed citizens saved police officers in Florida, Ohio, and in Pennsylvania.
Scores of examples of armed citizens saving police officers before 1996 are recounted in an nraila.org article published in 1999.
Gun owners and local police are natural allies. Locally-controlled police and populations who trust them can drive crime down.
Contrary to gun controllers’ talking points, the driver who engaged in the gunfight on the side of police in Cicero wasn’t shot by police and didn’t shoot any innocent bystanders. As is usually the case, armed citizens are among the most law-abiding Americans and extremely responsible and judicious in the use of deadly force.
©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.