Search On for Suspects as Illinois Sees 2 Cops Die in Separate Shootings Within 24 Hours
Two suspects are wanted for the shooting of two Bradley, Illinois police officers, one of which died late Wednesday, and an arrest has been made in a separate shooting that killed a sheriff's deputy in the state less than 24 hours prior.
The county sheriff's office announced Thursday that 49-year-old Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic died Wednesday night. The second officer who has not been named was in critical condition after the two were shot at a Kankakee County hotel.
Authorities released an arrest warrant for 25-year-old Darius D. Sullivan, a suspect in the shooting they said should be considered armed and dangerous. Police also said they are searching for a second person of interest who may have been involved.
The officers were at a hotel reportedly responding to a complaint about dogs barking in an empty car in a parking lot, where they eventually found the room where the alleged owner of the vehicle was staying. The officers were shot while in the room talking to the potential owner of the car, police said.
The shootings came less than 24 hours after Deputy Sean Riley was shot and killed around 5 a.m. on a southeastern Illinois highway while responding to a motorist assistance call. A Kentucky man was arrested later Wednesday in Missouri as a suspect in the murder of Riley as well as at least one carjacking throughout the day.
The Bradley sheriff's office posted a Facebook request for the public's help in finding Sullivan.
Mike Watson, the mayor of Bradley, a village of roughly 16,000 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Chicago, said the wounded officer had been transferred to a Chicago-area hospital, the (Kankakee) Daily Journal reported.
Rittmanic's body was transported early Thursday in a police procession from the Riverside Medical Center to the Kankakee County morgue, and officials later lowered the flag at Bradley Village Hall to half-staff. A procession from the morgue to a funeral home in nearby Bourbonnais was planned for Thursday afternoon.
"This is a very sad and tragic day for the Bradley village family. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family members of all involved," Watson said.
Rittmanic, who lived in Kankakee, joined the Bradley Police Department in 2007 and was promoted to sergeant in 2014, said Lt. Philip Trudeau, a department spokesman. She previously spent seven years as a deputy with the Iroquois County Sheriff's Department, he said.
A $10,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Sullivan's arrest, WLS-TV reported.
Riley was found dead by a second officer who later arrived at the scene, and the deputy's squad car was later found abandoned on I-64, police said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
