New Details Emerge In Fatal Accidental Shooting Of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera

CHICAGO — New details emerged during a northwest Illinois man’s pre-detention hearing Sunday afternoon tied to last week’s fatal shooting of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera. The shooting in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood was later determined by police to be friendly fire.

Adrian Rucker, 25, of Freeport, appeared before a judge at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on charges of armed violence, illegal gun possession and possession of fraudulent ID. Prosecutors said Rucker pointed an AR-style pistol at the officer, setting off a chain of events causing the officer to accidentally fire his gun, striking Rivera in the back.

Rivera and the other officer were in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue Thursday around 9:50 p.m., when they spotted a man they believed to be armed. The prosecutor said the man ran into a nearby apartment building, with both officers in pursuit.

The fleeing suspect disappeared into one of the units. The officers entered the unit, and the man they were chasing jumped over the living room couch and ran down the hallway, the prosecutor said.

As Rivera pursued the man down the hallway, the other officer stood in the doorway of the one-bedroom apartment, when the prosecutor said he spotted Rucker behind the couch pointing an AR pistol at him.

The officer’s body-camera captured Rucker centering the gun on the officer’s body. The apartment was also equipped with a video surveillance system that showed Rucker’s alleged actions, according to officials. A third person was shown emerging from inside the apartment, the prosecutor said.

As Rivera pursued the first man down the hallway, the prosecutor said the other officer accidentally discharged his weapon, striking Rivera in the back.

The prosecutor said Rucker, the man who fled the investigatory stop and the third person fled the apartment. Police canvassed the area around the apartment building, where the prosecutor said police found Rucker and the third person found laying on the ground between buildings in the alley behind the apartment building. No weapons were recovered.

The man from the original encounter made good on his escape, Chicago police said.

Prosecutors said surveillance video from inside the apartment captured Rucker holding the AR pistol before officers entered the unit. The officer positively identified Rucker from a photo array, the prosecutor said.

Police executed a search warrant, uncovering three guns and various ammo, along with an abundance of drugs and drug equipment, including suspect crack cocaine and a safe full of baggies containing suspect heroin, according to the complaint.

More than 20 pieces of fraudulent ID with Rucker’s photo, but other people’s information, were also found bundled in the apartment, the prosecutor said.

Rucker had six outstanding warrants for his arrest, including Cook County, news reports said.

Based on evidence presented at the pre-trial detention hearing, the judge determined that Rucker was a danger to the public and ordered him detained at Cook County Jail.

Rucker is due in court again on Thursday, June 12. Charges have not been filed for the man who first fled from Rivera and the other officers, who remains at large.