CHICAGO — The calls over police dispatch came fast and furious, like they always do.

“Shots fired at the police!” one officer shouted.

But there was just a single shot fired, and it was a cop who pulled the trigger, resulting in the first time in nearly four decades that a Chicago police officer was mistakenly fatally shot by a fellow cop while on duty.

Now, the better part of two weeks after tactical Officer Krystal Rivera died in the friendly fire incident, investigators are still searching for the suspect who sparked a brief foot pursuit that ultimately led to the fatal gunfire in a Chatham apartment building.

Meanwhile, investigators with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability continue to probe the gunshot that resulted in Rivera’s on-duty death, CPD’s first of 2025. In the moments after the chase, Rivera was shot and killed by her own partner, authorities have said.

Funeral arrangements for Rivera have now been set.

Her visitation is planned for 2 to 8 p.m. June 24 at the Montclair-Lucania Funeral Home in the Montclare neighborhood on the Northwest Side, police said. The funeral service will be held at noon the next day, at Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park.

The shooting

Shortly before 10 p.m. June 5, Rivera and other members of a Gresham District (6th) tactical team tried to stop a weapons suspect in the 8200 block of South Drexel, officials previously said. That suspect ran into an apartment building, and officers gave chase into one of the units.

They were then confronted by two others, one of whom allegedly pointed a gun at Rivera.

Rivera’s partner, apparently standing behind her, fired a single shot. It was not known if the shooting was captured on any officer’s body-worn camera.

Scores of cops flooded the area in response to the call of a “10-1” — an officer immediately in need of emergency assistance. A citizen called 911, too, and reported hearing a gunshot in the building.

With no time to wait for an ambulance, Rivera was placed into a squad car to be driven to University of Chicago Medical Center. During the trip to the hospital, though, the police vehicle caught fire and Rivera was transferred to a different squad car. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

In the chaos, the suspect who prompted the stop was able to escape. A Police Department spokesperson told the Tribune that they remained at large.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office found Rivera died of a gunshot wound to her back. A police incident report said Rivera was shot in her left flank, presumably near an opening in her bulletproof vest.

The Tribune has requested from the medical examiner’s office a copy of Rivera’s autopsy report, though those records have not yet been provided.

Rivera, 36, worked as an officer for four years and was assigned to the Gresham District on the South Side. She left behind a 10-year-old daughter.

Her death came less than a year after Officer Enrique Martinez was fatally shot about a block away from where Rivera was killed.

“The way that she worked, it was evident that she did love her job,” Superintendent Larry Snelling said of Rivera the night of the shooting. “She wanted to make Chicago a better place.”

Charges filed

By the time a news conference started, two people were in police custody. That night, the officer who shot Rivera identified a man in a photo array as the person who pointed a gun.

Forty-eight hours later, CPD announced charges against Adrian Rucker, of Freeport, Illinois, about 30 miles west of Rockford.

Rucker, 25, had six warrants at the time of his arrest, according to prosecutors. He was charged with armed violence, use of a firearm without a firearm owner’s identification card, possession of a fake ID and drug possession. He was ordered held pending trial.

Officers searching the apartment where Rivera was shot found three guns, several magazines and several rounds of ammunition, according to prosecutors. Those weapons included an AR-style pistol with an empty 60-round drum magazine, a Glock handgun and a black and tan AR-style pistol.

Police also found a scale and numerous containers of suspected crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana, prosecutors allege. An open safe in the apartment held suspected heroin and about 20 fake ID cards that showed Rucker’s picture from different states, including California and Ohio, allegedly were found in a kitchen cabinet.

Uncommon tragedy

Fatal friendly fire by Chicago police officers is exceedingly rare. The two most recent instances occurred in the mid-1980s, though both involved plainclothes tactical officers like Rivera.

In 1986, Officer Jay Brunkella was fatally shot by his partner while the partner was struggling with a narcotics suspect in Rogers Park. That suspect was later convicted of Brunkella’s murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Tribune previously reported.

Two years earlier, Officer Dorelle Brandon was fatally shot by her partner while she, too, struggled to arrest a narcotics suspect.

That suspect was charged with murder in Brandon’s death, but was acquitted. However, he was convicted of a narcotics charge and sentenced to seven years in prison. Brandon was the first female CPD officer to die in the line of duty.

---------

—Chicago Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky contributed.

____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.