Illinois cop killed, second injured in hotel shooting

Fellow officers paid their respects at a ceremonial procession after Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic was killed on duty.
AP

A man fatally shot one Illinois cop and critically injured another when the police officers were called to a hotel on a routine noise complaint, officials said.

The gunman killed Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic, 49, and wounded Officer Tyler Bailey, 27, at the Comfort Inn around 9:41 p.m. on Wednesday, according to police.

A manhunt is on for alleged shooter Darius D. Sullivan, 25, and Xandria Harris, 26, who is a “person of interest” in the shooting, officials said.

The two officers were called to the hotel over a report of dogs barking in an unattended car in the parking lot. Once there, they went into the hotel to find the car’s owner, Bradley Police Department said in a news release.

But when they started a conversation with the apparent owner inside a hotel room, the suspects attacked the officers. Both were shot. They were then taken to the hospital, with the sergeant pronounced dead early Thursday and Bailey still in critical condition as of Thursday.

Officer Tyler Bailey was wounded at the Comfort Inn around 9:41 p.m., as his partner on duty, Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic died from her wounds.

Bradley Police Department

The Illinois State Police, which is investigating the shooting, said its staff is using “every resource” to bring those responsible to justice.

A manhunt is on for alleged shooter Darius D. Sullivan for the shooting of the officers, officials said.

AP

“The senseless harm and killing of two more Illinois police officers bring great sorrow to our agency and to the family, friends, and brothers and sisters of the Bradley Police Department,” Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said in a statement.

Authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for leading to alleged the arrest of alleged shooter Sullivan, a Bourbonnais resident, according to Daily Journal of Kankakee, IL. The warrant for his arrest includes six counts of murder, the newspaper reported. He had previously faced burglary and other charges, the Journal said.

Rittmanic spent seven years as an Iroquois County Sheriff’s deputy before she joined Bradley’s police force in 2007. She worked her way up to sergeant in 2014 in Bradley, a small town of about 16,000 and located about 50 miles south of Chicago.

Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic, who died from her wounds, spent seven years as an Iroquois County Sheriff’s deputy before she joined Bradley’s police force in 2007.

Village of Bradley

With Post wires