Chicago Cop Killed in Hospital Shooting
- Chicago prosecutors charged 26-year-old Alphanso Talley with murder after Officer John Bartholomew was killed and a second Chicago officer was critically wounded at Swedish Hospital. - Prosecutors said Talley, arrested in a Family Dollar robbery, hid a gun under a blanket and opened fire during a CT scan prep. - The case is fueling scrutiny of electronic monitoring after Talley’s earlier release from custody. (chicago.suntimes.com)
Chicago police say Officer John Bartholomew was killed after a handcuffed suspect opened fire inside Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital on April 25. (abc7chicago.com) (cbsnews.com) Bartholomew was 38, a 10-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, and officials said he was a husband and father. A second officer, 57, with 21 years on the force, remained in critical condition after the shooting. (abc7chicago.com) (chicago.suntimes.com) Prosecutors said the episode began around 8 a.m. when Alphanso Talley allegedly robbed a Family Dollar in Albany Park and pistol-whipped an employee. Police tracked stolen cash with a GPS device, arrested Talley, and took him to Swedish Hospital after he said he had swallowed drugs. (abc7chicago.com) (chicago.suntimes.com) In court, prosecutors said Talley was being prepared for a computed tomography scan when officers removed his handcuffs and he reached under a blanket for a gun. They said he shot one officer in the head, shot the second officer, then fled before officers arrested him after a nearby standoff. (abc7chicago.com) (cbsnews.com) Cook County prosecutors charged Talley, 26, with first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery. A judge ordered him held pending trial, and ABC7 reported he was due back in court on Thursday, April 30. (abc7chicago.com 1) (abc7chicago.com 2) The shooting has shifted attention to how Talley was out of jail before April 25. ABC7 reported he is a seven-time convicted felon, a parole absconder and an electronic-monitoring escapee. (abc7chicago.com) (cbsnews.com) The Chicago Sun-Times reported Judge John Lyke Jr. released Talley late last year over prosecutors’ objections, citing signs of improvement while he was in custody. CBS Chicago also reported Talley was back in court April 28 on charges from an earlier case. (chicago.suntimes.com) (cbsnews.com) Federal court records added another thread to the case: an Indiana woman was charged with making a false statement in buying the gun tied to the shooting. Prosecutors said the purchase was a straw buy, meaning someone with a clean record bought a weapon for a person barred from owning one. (abc7chicago.com) (chicago.suntimes.com) Bartholomew’s death turned a hospital security failure into a wider test for Chicago’s courts, jail-release decisions and prisoner transport procedures. As Talley’s case moves forward, the city is burying one officer and waiting on the recovery of another. (abc7chicago.com) (chicago.suntimes.com)
