Court document details moments before and after officer was accidentally shot by fellow cop during foot chase
Officer Krystal Rivera was unintentionally shot and killed by another officer during a foot chase on Chicago's South Side.
The suspect, Adrian Rucker, allegedly pointed an AR-style pistol at police inside a Chatham apartment before fleeing the scene.
Authorities recovered three guns, suspected drugs, and more than 20 fake ID cards from the apartment.
CHICAGO - A court document reveals new details about the night Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera was unintentionally shot and killed by another officer during a foot chase in Chatham.
What we know
Prosecutors say Rivera, 36, and her partner were chasing an armed suspect into a three-story apartment building located at 8210 S. Drexel Ave. around 9:50 p.m. last Thursday.
The suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Adrian Rucker, entered one of the building's units and Rivera and her partner followed him inside.
Rucker was allegedly standing behind a living room couch and pointing an AR-style pistol directly at the partner. This moment, prosecutors say, was captured on the officer's body camera. Prosecutors also noted that most of the event was captured on the apartment's own surveillance system.
Rucker then reportedly jumped over the couch and fled down a hallway, prompting Rivera to chase after him. At this moment, prosecutors say the partner accidentally fired his weapon, striking Rivera in the back.
Rucker and another person who was inside the apartment during the chaos fled the scene after Rivera was shot.
A short time later, police found Rucker and the other person hiding on the ground between houses located behind the alley of the apartment building.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the one-bedroom apartment where Rivera was shot. Inside, they found the following three firearms:
An Apache Arms MDL AA15 AR-style pistol that had a 7-inch barrel and an attached 60 round drum magazine, which was unloaded.
A 10mm Glock 20 handgun that had an attached drum magazine was recovered from the bedroom floor at the foot of the bed. The magazine was loaded with one round in the chamber and an unknown amount of rounds in the magazine.
A second AR-style pistol that was black and tan and located protruding from a bag on the bedroom floor. It was loaded with a round in the chamber and an unknown amount of rounds in the attached 16-round magazine.
Additional magazines and rounds of ammunition were also recovered from the apartment.
Investigators also seized drugs believed to be heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana, along with two scales. Additionally, more than 20 fake ID cards with Rucker's photo and different names were recovered.
What we don't know
Police have not publicly identified the officer who accidentally fired the shot that killed Rivera.
What's next
Rucker, of Freeport, Illinois, faces multiple charges, including armed violence, possession of a firearm without a FOID card, possession of fraudulent identification, and drug offenses.
He was ordered detained and is due back in court on June 12.
The Source
The information in this article was obtained from a court document, the Chicago Police Department, and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
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