BLUE LIVES

Chicago Police Officer Ella French Is City’s First Female Cop to Be Killed While Serving in 33 Years

Ella French was killed while exchanging gunfire in a traffic stop shootout.

A Chicago police officer was shot and killed after being involved in a shootout at a traffic stop, CBS News reports. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for all city flags to be lowered to half staff to honor Ella French, a 29-year-old female officer, was the first officer killed in the line of the duty since 2018 and the first female officer killed in more than three decades. Andrew French, the brother of the slain officer, remembered his sister for her the values. “My sister’s always been a person of integrity,” Andrew French told Chicago Tribune. “She’s always done the right thing even when nobody’s looking.” The city continues to battle a surge in gun violence present in many large cities across the country. Lightfoot urged residents not to see law enforcement as enemies, and pointed to the perpetrators of the city’s violent crime. Some 461 shootings occurred in the city last month, a 15 percent increase from the previous month, NBC Chicago reports. All three suspects have been taken into police custody while one remains at a local hospital.