Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera was “unintentionally” shot and killed by her partner when they encountered an armed person during a foot pursuit Thursday night in Chatham, police officials said.
Police Supt. Larry Snelling previously said that Rivera was shot about 9:50 p.m. while chasing a person who she thought was armed into an apartment building in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue. Once inside, officers were confronted by another person who was armed with a rifle, and an officer opened fire.
Police now say the officer was the only person who fired a weapon, and that the “gunfire unintentionally struck Officer Rivera.”
The person who aimed the rifle at officers is still being held in custody, police said, and the circumstances that led to the initial stop remain under investigation.
“We ask that the city continue to pray for fallen Officer Krystal Rivera’s family during this heartbreaking time,” the police statement said. “We also ask that the people of Chicago pray for Officer Rivera’s partner as he faces the loss of his fellow CPD family member. Though her loss weighs heavy on our department, we will continue to do all we can to protect our city in memory of Officer Rivera and her sacrifice.”
Rivera, a four-year police veteran assigned to the Gresham District tactical team, hugged her 10-year-old daughter a little tighter than usual when she left for work Thursday.
Her daughter, Bella Medina, is grateful she did.
“When she said bye, it’s like she had a feeling,” Bella said. “She gave me the biggest hug, biggest kiss and she said, ‘If anything happens, I’m always right here,’ in my heart.”
Rivera’s family described her as a witty and funny person who approached her job as a police officer with care, sensitivity and justice in mind. Bella, 10, was her “life,” Jacqueline Rivera, Krystal’s sister, said.
Snelling said Rivera “was a hero, and she lost her life tragically” when he spoke to reporters early Friday outside University of Chicago Medical Center, where she died.
He acknowledged that the police vehicle that was being used to transport Rivera to the hospital had crashed and caught fire.
“There was some type of malfunction in that vehicle that caught fire,” he said. “But assisting officers came in and she was transferred to another vehicle and then driven to the hospital.”
Rivera was pronounced dead at 10:19 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which determined she died of a gunshot wound to the back. She was 36.
Another officer sustained a wrist injury and was taken to the hospital in fair condition.
Two people fled from the apartment where the shooting happened and were initially taken into custody, Snelling said. Three guns were found at the scene, according to police.
“We have several individuals in custody, but one in particular who we believe was on the scene when the officers were confronted with the armed individual,” Snelling said.
On Friday morning, a few officers were walking in and out of the three-story courtyard apartment building where the shooting happened. One officer carried a paper bag from the building to a squad car on the street.
A dedicated mother and daughter
Rivera’s mother, Yolanda Rivera, was sleeping when she got a call from Chicago police. She slept through the call, but woke up later to the alert. She sent four texts to her daughter.
“You called me.”
“On police phone.”
“Kris.”
“Are you ok?”
The texts were never answered.
“As soon as she wasn’t responding I knew something happened,” Yolanda Rivera said.
Yolanda Rivera spoke with police and went with Bella to the hospital. Doctors met them in a private room and said they tried everything they could to save her.
Krystal Rivera was planning her daughter’s 11th birthday party, which was scheduled for Saturday. A fashion enthusiast, she had just bought a new pair of boots at Ross. She won’t see her daughter turn 11 or wear her new boots.
“She never got to wear those boots she wanted to wear,” Bella said. “She was so happy that she found them. … She loves fashion and work at the same time.”
Krystal Rivera was a single mom, and Bella said she and her mom were very close. On rainy days, they would color, talk and watch movies. The two would drive around looking for unique license plates and giggle at them. She often found her mom eating cereal with bananas on the couch and woke up to her doing sit-ups while she was in training to become a police officer.
“I’m gonna miss her,” Bella said. “I want to go home with her. I don’t want my whole life to change.”
Krystal Rivera looked up to her mom, calling her Wonder Woman and trying her best not to worry her mother. Looking through her daughter’s Instagram account Friday morning, Yolanda Rivera choked back tears.
Krystal Rivera was always put together with her hair and nails done. “She’s so pretty,” her mother said, crying.
Krystal Rivera had failed one part of a police academy exam, but she persisted to become an officer in 2021, Jacqueline Rivera said. It had been a dream of hers to be a cop since she was a child, Yolanda Rivera said.
“For me, it’s a privilege,” Rivera told the Sun-Times when she graduated from the academy in 2021. “I come from a family of serving. To help people in need, that’s my calling.”
But Yolanda Rivera knew her daughter’s job came with risks.
“I told her probably a couple weeks ago: Please get a different job or get a desk job, it’s so dangerous out there,” Yolanda Rivera said. “She kept on telling me ‘Mom, I’m gonna be OK. Don’t worry, Mom.'”
On the job and in her personal life, Krystal Rivera was “selfless” and never complained, even when work got hard, Jacqueline Rivera said.
“The cases were very heartfelt for her,” Jacqueline Rivera said. “But she never wanted to bring that back home. I would see it in her expression, she had worries.”
Rivera loved action and comedy movies, especially the Transformers and anything starring Jim Carrey, and she had just bought tickets for a country music concert in the fall, her family said. She cared about animals and dreamed of living on a farm in Wisconsin, her mom said.
“If you want to think of a good person, a great person, as an example you’ll think of her,” Bella said.
Seven other officers have been killed in line-of-duty shootings since 2018, according to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. Two other officers, Eduardo Marmolejo and Conrad Gary, were fatally struck by a commuter train while chasing a gunman on the Far South Side in December 2018.
Enrique Martinez was shot and killed during a traffic stop in November in the 8000 block of South Ingleside Avenue, just blocks from where Rivera was killed. Martinez was shot with a gun equipped with an extended magazine and modified to fire automatically.
Darion McMillian, a convicted felon from Harvey, is charged with murder and other felonies in Martinez’s death.
‘The entire city of Chicago is grieving’
Snelling said Rivera “was a working police officer trying to keep the streets safe,” noting that she had “already processed two other guns working that day.
“I want everyone to keep this officer’s family in your prayers,” Snelling told reporters early Friday. “And understand the risk that she took every single day when she came out to do her job, with no regard and with a clear understanding that it’s always possible when you’re doing this type of work that you may not return home.”
Speaking alongside Snelling, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Rivera’s “young, energetic and bold approach towards keeping us safe is the memory that we will honor.”
“The entire city of Chicago is grieving and mourning together over this tragic loss of one of Chicago’s finest,” the mayor said. “This young woman served honorably and courageously.”
The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation will provide Rivera’s family with financial and emotional support in the coming days.
“Four years into a promising career and Officer Rivera had already earned the respect of her colleagues and superiors,” the memorial foundation said in a statement.
“Krystal was a hard-working, tough police officer who led by example and was a mentor to younger officers coming on the job.
“She represented everything we want our police officers to be: smart, assertive, tough, compassionate and professional. Krystal greeted each tour of duty with zeal and enthusiasm and worked every day to make Chatham, and our city, safer.”
