Deputy Fatally Shot Trying To Stop Armed Robbery At Christmas Party

A sheriff’s deputy in Chicago, Illinois has been fatally shot following an incident outside a family’s Christmas party.

Tom Dart, a Cook County Sheriff, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the shooting took place on Friday night at the VFW hall in Bellwood, which is around 13 miles away from downtown Chicago.

“The offender shot him and killed him,” Dart said.

The deputy who was shot was a former Marine who had been with the police force for over 20 years. Few details were released, but it is known that the shooter killed the officer when he tried to intervene in a robbery which was taking place outside the VFW hall.

The deputy’s body arrived at the Cook County medical examiner’s office just after midnight on Friday. As this is the weekend, it is not easy to obtain any further details on the fatal shooting and more detailed information will no doubt come to light on Monday.

The deputy, who was 50, tried to stop the armed robbery which was taking place outside the hall where he was attending the Christmas party, off-duty. The deputy has been named as Cuauhtemoc Estrada.

As well as being an ex-marine, Estrada, who was from Maywood, worked as an investigator for the county.

Dart said in a statement about the fatally shot deputy:

“He was an exceptional investigator, but an even better man who loved his family, his friends and his country. Quite simply, he made this world a better place and will be missed by all whose lives he touched.”

At the time of the writing of this article no suspects had been arrested, and no one is in custody pending a full police investigation into the incident