News (Media Awareness Project) - US IL: Cop Dies Week After Being Shot On Stakeout |
| Title: | US IL: Cop Dies Week After Being Shot On Stakeout |
| Published On: | 1998-08-22 |
| Source: | Chicago Tribune (IL) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-07 02:52:23 |
COP DIES WEEK AFTER BEING SHOT ON STAKEOUT
A week after he was shot while on drug-surveillance duty, Chicago Police
Officer Michael Ceriale died Friday night in Cook County Hospital.
Ceriale had been in critical condition since he was shot just below his
bulletproof vest last Saturday while watching drug deals at a high-rise at
4101 S. Federal St.
During attempts to save him, doctors used more than 200 pints of blood
during five surgeries--or about 20 times the amount circulating in an
average adult.
Friends and police officers donated blood for Ceriale. They also took turns
visiting his family or spending the night at the hospital. That vigil ended
at about 8:15 p.m., when Ceriale's father called those who were present
into a tight circle to let them know the 26-year-old officer had died.
Afterward, some clustered near the entrance to the emergency room. Others
quietly got in their cars and drove away while dabbing at tears.
Ceriale, who had been with the force for 15 months, became the first
Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty this year.
He was not removed from life support systems, Police Department spokesman
Pat Camden said.
Police Supt. Terry Hillard issued a bulletin over police radios at about
8:30 p.m.
"It is with a very saddened heart that I must inform you that Officer
Michael A. Ceriale has lost his fight for life," Camden read from Hillard's
statement.
Ceriale will be buried early next week with full honors, Camden said.
Officers at the Wentworth District, where Ceriale worked, heard the news
from officers who had been assigned to his family, District Sgt. Tim Smith
said.
"They're devastated, to say the least, to lose one of their own," Smith
said. "It's pretty quiet over here. . . . Work will go on; it has to go on.
But he's in all our thoughts right now."
Three people have been charged with attempted murder and aggravated
discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting.
Prosecutors have said those charges will almost certainly be upgraded to
murder following Ceriale's death.
A week after he was shot while on drug-surveillance duty, Chicago Police
Officer Michael Ceriale died Friday night in Cook County Hospital.
Ceriale had been in critical condition since he was shot just below his
bulletproof vest last Saturday while watching drug deals at a high-rise at
4101 S. Federal St.
During attempts to save him, doctors used more than 200 pints of blood
during five surgeries--or about 20 times the amount circulating in an
average adult.
Friends and police officers donated blood for Ceriale. They also took turns
visiting his family or spending the night at the hospital. That vigil ended
at about 8:15 p.m., when Ceriale's father called those who were present
into a tight circle to let them know the 26-year-old officer had died.
Afterward, some clustered near the entrance to the emergency room. Others
quietly got in their cars and drove away while dabbing at tears.
Ceriale, who had been with the force for 15 months, became the first
Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty this year.
He was not removed from life support systems, Police Department spokesman
Pat Camden said.
Police Supt. Terry Hillard issued a bulletin over police radios at about
8:30 p.m.
"It is with a very saddened heart that I must inform you that Officer
Michael A. Ceriale has lost his fight for life," Camden read from Hillard's
statement.
Ceriale will be buried early next week with full honors, Camden said.
Officers at the Wentworth District, where Ceriale worked, heard the news
from officers who had been assigned to his family, District Sgt. Tim Smith
said.
"They're devastated, to say the least, to lose one of their own," Smith
said. "It's pretty quiet over here. . . . Work will go on; it has to go on.
But he's in all our thoughts right now."
Three people have been charged with attempted murder and aggravated
discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting.
Prosecutors have said those charges will almost certainly be upgraded to
murder following Ceriale's death.
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