The Chicago police officer fatally shot Saturday was identified as John Bartholomew, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Bartholomew, 38, was shot alongside another officer at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital by a robbery suspect who had been arrested earlier that morning, Police Supt. Larry Snelling told reporters Saturday.
The second officer remains in critical condition and is “fighting for his life,” Snelling said Saturday afternoon at a news conference outside Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where both officers were taken after the shooting.
The suspected shooter was taken into custody after fleeing Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital following the shooting, which led to brief warnings to shelter in place in the neighborhood around the hospital at 5140 N. California Ave.
Bartholomew had worked for the police department for 10 years, Snelling said. He worked in the 24th District, which covers Rogers Park, Edgewater and West Ridge. The wounded officer, who was being treated at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, is 57 and has worked for CPD for 21 years, Snelling said. The wounded officer’s name has not been released.
It remains unclear how the suspected shooter had a gun when he was arrested. A surveillance photo obtained by the Sun-Times appeared to show him running naked, with electrodes on his chest.
Endeavor Health, the hospital system that includes Swedish Hospital, said the suspect “was wanded upon arrival” as part of its “public safety weapon detection protocols.”
Police sources initially said the suspected shooter disarmed one of the officers who was shot. But later Saturday, a source said police only realized the suspect was armed when he was stripped down at the hospital, before opening fire.
Snelling said police investigating the shooting had recovered three weapons.