Man charged with murder of CPD Officer Enrique Martinez – NBC Chicago

Chicago police have filed murder charges against Chicago police officer Enrique Martinez, who was shot and killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop earlier this week.

Darian McMillian, 23, was charged with one count of first-degree murder of a police officer and one count of first-degree murder, in addition to several other charges, including one count of burglary of a dwelling and one count of attempted burglary of a police officer.

McMillian was placed on electronic monitoring and had a prior felony conviction.

“This offender is a convicted felon who was placed on electronic monitoring out of Will County. “It goes without saying that this individual should not have been on our streets with a fully automatic weapon, a weapon that killed Officer Martinez,” CPD Supt. Larry Snelling said.

Snelling expressed anger over Martinez's killing, citing the killings of other Chicago police officers in recent years.

“Anger does not describe the feeling I feel right now as we reflect on the loss of this officer who tried to protect the city. I think of all the losses we have suffered over the last few years.” “We have suffered the deaths from these violent experiences of Officer Luis Huesca, Officer Areanah Preston, Officer Vasquez Lasso and Officer Ella French,” Snelling said.

Snelling called for a greater focus on repeat offenders and violent crimes in the prosecution of McMillian.

“We must turn this anger into energy that will keep our city safe by focusing on the violent crimes and acts of violence that are occurring throughout our city. We must focus on the repeat offenders who continue to abuse and terrorize our city and our communities. In his final moments, he protected our city,” Snelling said.

Detective Chief Antoinette Ursitti provided more details about the traffic stop that led to the fatal shooting of Martinez.

Ursitti said the stop occurred around 8 p.m. Monday in the 8000 block of South Ingleside Avenue when a traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle with three people inside blocking traffic at the intersection.

According to Ursitti, Martinez and his partner were talking to the driver of the vehicle when they noticed McMillian, who was sitting in the passenger seat, reaching for a bag on the floor of the vehicle.

Officer Martinez and his partner then gave McMillian verbal commands to stop attacking. At that point, he pulled out a fully automatic handgun equipped with a machine gun conversion device and an extended magazine before firing toward Martinez, fatally striking him. The driver of the vehicle was also fatally shot by McMillian.

Ursitti said McMillian then pushed the driver out of the vehicle and jumped into the driver's seat as another officer tried to pull McMillian away from the vehicle. McMillian then put the vehicle in reverse and pulled the officer toward McMillian. The officer fired his weapon once, but it missed McMillian.

“The vehicle crashed into a parked car and came to a stop a short time later. McMillian fled the vehicle and entered a first-floor apartment with a woman inside. “McMillian found a knife that he had used to cut his electronic monitoring bracelet and then fled the scene,” Ursitti said. The woman was uninjured in the incident.

A short time later, officers located McMillian in the 8000 block of South Maryland Avenue, where he was taken into custody after positive identification.

“While this does not erase the grief of Officer Martinez’s family, we hope it provides some comfort knowing that the person responsible for his murder will be brought to justice. I would like to thank the responding officers and investigative team investigators who made this happen.” “This perpetrator was taken into custody and was unable to hurt anyone else,” Ursitti said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson expressed condolences to Martinez's family, citing a shooting in West Rogers Park late last month in which officers and paramedics were fired upon after an Orthodox Jewish man was shot in a hate crime.

“Just six days later, we stand side by side again and speak out about the terrible violence that continues to plague not only our city, but the men and women who wear the uniform and run toward danger,” Johnson said.

“Our officers face this type of danger every day,” Snelling said after the shooting. “And this work is unpredictable. We never know what our officers will face when they are out there trying to keep the public safe. And remember: In a city where our officers are not safe, it will be hard for everyone else to be safe.

According to Snelling, Martinez was 26 years old and had been in office for just under three years. He worked in the 6th District, NBC 5's Lisa Chavarria said, which includes the Gresham neighborhood and other surrounding communities.

“A proud person,” Snelling said. “Very hardworking.”