Friday, July 09, 2010

Chicago Top Cop: 'Entire city should be enraged' by officer's slaying

Chicago Supt. Jody Weis said today he "simply cannot understand" how the man charged with gunning down an officer "can have such a total disregard of life."

"The entire department is saddened beyond belief," Weis said hours after Bryant Brewer, 24, was charged. "The entire city should be enraged."

Brewer is accused of grabbing Officer Thor Soderberg's gun and fatally shooting him in the parking lot of a police facility in Englewood Wednesday afternoon. He was shot and wounded by officers and remains at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The 11-year police veteran was still in uniform in the facility's parking lot when Brewer approached him from behind and reached for the officer's weapon, according to police.

During a struggle, Brewer grabbed Soderberg's handgun and shot the officer, authorities said. Soderberg was shot three times--in the head, back, and face, said assistant state's attorney John Dillon, in the hearing before Ocasio. Brewer then crossed the street, weapon still in hand, and shot at Richard Mints, a contractor sitting on a nearby porch. After Mints was shot, Brewer also shot at the police building Soderberg had left, Dillon said today.

Officers rushed to the scene and shot Brewer during an exchange of gunfire.

Brewer did later "make an admission" to the crime, said Wentworth Area Detective Allen Szudarski.

Weis praised Englewood residents, saying 18 witnesses came forward after the shooting.

Asked about what could be done about security at police parking lots, Weis said police facilities have video surveillance, but added that little could be done to prevent such attacks by people with little regard for human life.

"There's really no level of security you can put up that will prevent a person like that from attacking someone. And unfortunately we lost an officer in this case," he said.

Weis couldn't confirm claims by Brewer's family about the suspect having a history of mental illness. "From everything we've seen so far, we have somebody who was just trying to rob and attack an individual, and that individual had to be a police officer. So I don't know what was going through this guy's head, why he would attack a police officer in broad daylight. That's something, I guess, only he will know," Weis said.

Weis praised the fallen officer, who he said had a passion for teaching police recruits. "He was as good as a police officer can be," Weis said.

A bond hearing for Brewer, of the 5800 block of South Wolcott Avenue, is expected to be held at noon. He is charged with murder, attempted murder and armed robbery."

I don't usually include so much of the text from a story, but for this purpose I believed it to be germane to a point. That being the fact that more than one person was shot yet what do we learn about the condition of the 2nd victim...

An officer is shot. Terrible thing. A bystander was also shot. Another terrible thing. Yet nowhere in the story is any information as to what happened to the bystander. 

Just "shot". Dead shot? Doing well and recovering shot? Soon to kick the bucket shot?

Would asking the Yellowstream Media to treat ALL victims of violence the same be too much? The officer was on duty and doing what he is paid to do. A bystander, the greater tragedy, was bystanding. Then again, this is after all Chicago where only special folks can protect themselves with firearms. Shame too. If the bystander was armed he might have helped.

To a lot of folks, that is the real tragedy. The officer at least had a means of defending himself. All the bystander could do was await execution.For me, that is far more of an outrage, Chief.

Oh and not for nothin' but the next recruit trainer should be one who can focus upon the need for a decent enough RETENTION HOLSTER. The man died because some nut was able to easy as you please waltz up to him and use his own gun to kill him. Single biggest potential pitfall of open carry and one that cannot be harped on nearly enough. I understand that for public sampling the Chief and others have to pound away at the tragedy aspect, but here we have an open and shut case of officer malfunction. 


Use this man's death to save others. Ask Bianchi to make the Soderberg Retention Holster in honor of a beloved cop who should still be alive today. And TEACH the kids what open carry is all about.

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