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An Oak Park police detective, who was shot during an incident in the morning hours of Black Friday, has died from his injuries, the village said.
Detective Allan Reddins, 40, was killed in the line of duty “while responding to a call involving an armed offender,” officials said Friday.
According to a spokesperson for the village, firefighters responded to a call of shots fired just after 9:30 a.m. in the 800 block of Lake Street. There, they found Reddins with a gunshot wound to the left side.
The officer was transported to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. He was pronounced dead just after 10 a.m., officials said.
“The Village of Oak Park extends its deepest condolences to Detective Reddins’ family, friends and colleagues within the Oak Park Police Department and the wider law enforcement community as they process the grief caused by this senseless violence,” the village said in a statement, noting that Reddins’ death marks the first line-of-duty death for the Oak Park Police Department since 1938.
Reddins, a Chicago resident, was sworn into the Oak Park Police Department in May 2019.
Authorities said Reddins was called to the scene for a report of an armed person leaving a bank in the 1000 block of Lake Street. Details on what happened next and how the officer was shot weren’t immediately released.
The person seen leaving the bank was also shot in the leg, village spokesperson Dan Yopchick said, but it was not clear if that person was shot by police. That person was “in custody” and also being treated at an area hospital in stable condition, Yopchick said.
A bank in the area posted a sign saying it was “temporarily closed until further notice.”
A heavy police presence could be seen in the area where the officer was shot.
Witnesses reported seeing a number of police cars arrive at the scene.
“I was coming back from Target and parked outside on Oak Park Avenue in my car, and I saw police start showing up with their lights on surrounding the park. And then I was looking at my mirror because I could see that was unusual. I then saw a person in the park, who seemed to be trying to get away from the incident, run out onto Oak Park Avenue, and that’s when I knew something was wrong because there was lots of traffic. And then I opened my car door and I heard the gunshots,” witness Natalie Young told NBC Chicago.
An investigation remained ongoing Friday morning, officials said.
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