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Illinois Officer In Critical Condition After Being Shot 3 Times

By Monique Harris
Published on: 14:42 PST, Mar 20, 2016

Park Forest Police Officer Tim Jones was shot three times on Saturday while investigating a break in at a vacant structure. He remains in critical but stable condition on Sunday. Officer Tim Jones is 24-years-old and has been on the force for less than one year.

Officer Jones was shot in the jaw and neck on Saturday morning and was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the shooter as 21-year-old Thurman Reynolds of Park Forest, who was killed when officers returned fire. Officer Tim Jones was shot with a stolen gun out of Texas. A second gun was found in his possession, too.

The Park Forest Police Department said that Jones was in “excellent medical hands” after having undergone emergency surgery for a gunshot wound to the head.

“That’s the thing about this job: When tragedy strikes, it’s not just a job, it’s family.”

According to Park Forest Police Department, dispatch received a call around 5:40 a.m. about someone breaking into an empty house at the 300 block of Neala Street.

“When the police came, I just heard gunshots,” said neighbor Latina Bentley.

When police arrived on the scene, there was a car at the scene. It came back stolen; therefore, the officers on the scene to set up a perimeter around the building.

“He tried escaping from a window, when officers went to detain him, he produced a handgun and began firing upon officers,” said Christopher Mannino, deputy chief of the Park Forest Police Chief, to ABC 7 Chicago.

Officer Tim Jones was shot three times. Other officers on the scene returned gunfire and Thurman died on the scene. Jones remains in critical condition.

This incident comes after a string of shootings in the Chicago area. Since Friday, one woman has died and 18 have been wounded.

A 24-year-old woman was sitting in a parked car located at 2700 North Kilbourn, when another car pulled up and someone opened fire. The young woman was hit in the chest.

She was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Her name is being withheld as the examiner’s office notifies her family.

More recently, a man was shot and critically wounded early on Sunday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South side of Chicago. He was walking along the 4900 block of South Laflin about 5 a.m. when someone opened fire. The victim, 27-years-old, was shot in the chest when he arrived at Stroger Hospital. Sources report he was a known gang member.

Not 30 minutes later, a young man was shot in the leg and arrived at Stroger Hospital in good condition.

Another man was shot in the back near Park Manor neighborhood. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition.

Earlier, a man was shot in the East side neighborhood on the South side. He was a 41-year-old man walking in an alley around the 9600 block of South Ewing. He was shot in the left leg and taken in good condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

A 37-year-old man was shot in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, also on the South side. He was sitting at a stop sign when he was reportedly shot. He heard gunshots and suddenly felt the pain of being shot. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the side and was also taken to Christ Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.

Additionally, an off-duty Chicago Police officer shot a man who hit him with a bat in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. The officer sought medical attention for the injury to his arm.

At least 13 other people have been wounded in shootings across Chicago. The first shooting occurred around 6 p.m. on Friday evening. Police are not saying whether the shootings are related.

[Photo by Chicago Tribune/Getty Images]

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