CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Visitation is Wednesday afternoon for a Chicago police hero, who was gunned down while doing her job a week and a half ago on the city’s Southwest Side.
There was a vigil Tuesday night outside the 10th District police station in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side. That was the district Officer Ella French had been assigned to before being reassigned to the Community Safety Team, which led to her to be in West Englewood the night she was fatally shot.
Among those who spoke at the vigil was her brother Andrew French.
“She loved hard and she loved this city. She loved everything about it except for the nasty parts that we all know. And she made a point of becoming a police officer to try and change those things,” Andrew French said.
Related
The father of Officer Carlos Yanez, Officer Ella French’s partner who was shot and critically wounded in the same incident where French was killed, also spoke at the vigil.
“A simple traffic stop turned into a tragedy. Yes, us here will never forget Ella or the other officers that come before her and my son; but the people will, because they don’t feel the pain we feel,” said Carlos Yanez Sr.
Officer Yanez continues to fight for his life.
“He’s got two shots in the head – one in the brain, one in the eye. But he’s still fighting. He’s still trying to live for his son – 3-year-old son – Carlos III,” Yanez Sr. said.
Visitation for Office Ella French begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday at St. Rita Shrine Chapel on 77th and Western. Her funeral is Thursday morning at the same church.
Related
