Last week, a couple of police officers were shot. One was killed in the line of duty, and one is in the hospital. It was ugly, to say the least. It’s a reminder that while police officers aren’t perfect, they do a tough job.
However, we’re now hearing that the killer shot the cop as she begged for her life.
A Bradley Police Sergeant was pleading for her life just moments before she was fatally shot with her own service weapon by a gunman in a hotel last week, prosecutors said.
On Dec. 29, 2021, Bradley Police Sergeant Marlene Rittmanic and Officer Tyler Bailey responded to the Comfort Inn Hotel in Bradley regarding barking dogs that were left in a vehicle.
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As [Xandria] Harris continued to prevent the officers from opening the door, [Darius] Sullivan allegedly pointed the firearm at Officer Bailey and shot him in the head. Sullivan then allegedly fired a first shot at Sgt. Rittmanic as she attempted to flee the kill zone, prosecutors said.
Sullivan then allegedly chased Sgt. Rittmanic down the hallway of the hotel and pinned her up against a door.
At that time, Sullivan’s firearm jammed, and he was attempting to unjam his firearm using his hand and mouth, while also attempting to disarm Sgt. Rittmanic of her weapon with his other hand.
As Sullivan and Sgt. Rittmanic were struggling, Harris walked down the hallway of the hotel, and Sullivan allegedly told Harris to “cock the gun, cock the gun” in regards to his jammed firearm.
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“At the time Sullivan fired the fatal shots into Sgt. Rittmanic, Sgt. Rittmanic was pleading with them to just leave, you don’t have to do this, please just go, please don’t please don’t, she was desperately pleading for her life,” said Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe in court.
In other words, Rittmanic wasn’t just murdered; she was executed. This wasn’t a case of shooting at police so they could get away; they wanted these officers dead.
And through all of this, I can’t help but wonder what kind of a role the last year of anti-police sentiment may have played.
Understand, most people who have been on the “defund the police” kick wouldn’t do something like this. There’s a difference between defunding police departments and executing cops in cold blood.
However, you also can’t talk about how awful the police are and how they’re just looking to execute black people without expecting someone to take that to heart.
Again, I don’t know that’s what happened here. The truth is that Rittmanic knew who Sullivan and Harris were, likely from previous contacts with them. It seems likely that they were frequent fliers in the criminal justice system and would likely have their own reasons to hate the police.
Anti-police sentiment, however, might have pushed them over the edge.
Or, it might not have. I doubt we’ll ever really know.
What we do know is that the two are alleged to have executed a police officer in cold blood, a police officer who was there over barking dogs left in a car. If you ever want to know why a routine call can make a cop twitchy, this is why. It’s not the man with a gun call that results in officer deaths most of the time; it’s a seemingly routine call that turns out to be anything but.
In this case, the two are in custody, and prosecutors appear to be pulling out all the stops to punish these two should they be convicted.
