"On a mild spring night in Chicago, a woman told her 18-year-old boyfriend she wanted money for a barbecue. He rounded up three teenage friends, each with a long criminal record, and, according to prosecutors, they donned masks, carried guns, and robbed four people, tossing two to the ground. They went searching for more victims in a stolen Kia; shortly after 1:30 a.m. they crossed paths with Aréanah Preston."
"Preston, a police officer, had finished her shift and, still in uniform, parked across the street from her family home on the South Side. The 24-year-old was to receive a master's degree in law the following week. The police department viewed her as a future leader; the FBI had talked with her about a job. The young men in the Kia saw her as a target."
"Preston's mother, Dionne Mhoon, had been out with friends in the suburbs and arrived home to patrol cars and swirling red lights. An officer drove her, praying, to the University of Chicago hospital. In a private waiting room, a door opened, and the mayor and a trauma surgeon walked in. We're so sorry. We did all that we could. She was so brave, your daughter. Mhoon felt ruin."
On a spring night in Chicago, an 18-year-old organized three teenage accomplices to rob people after a woman requested money. The group drove a stolen Kia and encountered Aréanah Preston, a 24-year-old uniformed police officer parked near her family home after finishing a shift. The teenagers ran at Preston and opened fire; Preston returned fire but was struck in the face and neck. One attacker seized her firearm and the group fled. Preston's mother arrived to emergency vehicles and was driven to the hospital. Preston's death highlights persistent violent-crime and youth gun-violence challenges in Chicago.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]