Freeport man charged with armed violence in Officer Krystal Rivera's ‘mistaken' fatal shooting

Yahoo

08-06-2025

Authorities have charged a 25-year-old Freeport man with armed violence in connection with the fatal shooting of Officer Krystal Rivera.
Charged is Adrian Rucker, the department announced said early Sunday. The charges came two days after he allegedly pointed a rifle at Officer Krystal Rivera and other tactical officers from the Gresham (6th) District, who had chased a person into a Chatham apartment while trying to conduct an investigatory stop.
Rivera, 36, was mistakenly shot and killed by another officer during the confrontation, police have said. Department investigators are still probing the attempted investigative stop near 82nd and Drexel that led up to the shooting
Rucker also faces felony counts of use of a firearm without a FOID card, possession of a fake ID and drug possession, police said. He was set to appear in bond court Sunday morning, according to a news release.
Rivera had been a police officer for four years and leaves behind a young daughter. A resident of the Irving Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, she was the first city police officer to be killed in the line of duty this year. City leaders, police brass and friends described her as a hard worker with an independent streak who loved her job.
Around 10:08 p.m. Thursday, officers found and detained Rucker, 25, and a 26-year-old woman, also from Freeport, in a gated yard near an apartment building at 8215 S. Maryland Ave., according to police sources and court records.
Authorities had previously issued six arrest warrants for Rucker. According to police sources, those warrants are for criminal damage to property, theft under $500, and two alleged instances of domestic battery, all out of Stephenson County in northwestern Illinois.
He also had a warrant for aggravated identity theft out of northwest suburban Rolling Meadows and another for possession of fake identification out of Winnebago County, court records show. The woman had one active warrant, according to police sources.
According to Cook County Court records, Rucker was first arrested in April 2024 for alleged aggravated identity theft in Rolling Meadows. He was released pending trial, records show, but failed to appear for a June court date and Judge Ellen Beth Mandeltort issued an arrest warrant in July 2024.
The woman has not been charged with anything related to Rivera's death, but appeared in Cook County bond court Saturday regarding her arrest warrant out of Stephenson County, court records show. Her next court date is scheduled for Thursday.