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The Chicago Police Department was quick to respond when a 13-year-old boy was shot on the east side of Chicago. Unlike the officer who ended the life of Adam Toledo, these officers are being credited as “lifesavers.” The incident happened Monday evening, April 26, 2021, in the 8200 block of South Coles.
The officers were out cruising the street searching for a car that was implicated in another incident when they received a call that someone had been shot. Two teens were out walking at approximately 9:30 p.m. CDT when shots rang out.
When CPD officers arrived at the scene earlier this week, it did not take long for them to notice that the victim was a minor. The magnitude of the situation was clear, and they realized if they did not move swiftly, the chances of survival were slim.
Officers Rhonda Ward and Julius Givens jumped into action, carried the teen to their squad car, and rushed to the hospital themselves.
‘I was merely trying to focus on getting him to the hospital because that was the most important,” Officer Rhonda Ward said Thursday. “It was, ‘Whoa.’ It was a distressing encounter.”
The officers recall the troubling experience at a news interview Thursday outside the Area Four main office building. Officer Ward stated that they had encountered a lot of gunshot victims, but this one was different. Officer Givens chimed in with, “he is all but a boy, and we knew that we were racing against the clock, considering the wounds the teen sustained.”
Recent updates report that the youth was treated for the sustained wounds, and because of the quick-thinking officers that are now being praised for their heroic actions, the teen is predicted to recuperate.
Written by Sharri Rogers
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Chicago Sun-Times: 2 Chicago cops who raced boy to hospital credited with saving his life; by Manny Ramos
Featured, Top and Inset Images Courtesy of C. Holmes’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License