Suspect Held Without Bond In Shooting Of CPD Officer
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 19 year-old woman is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a Chicago police officer who was executing a search warrant Saturday night.
The woman's family said she thought someone was trying to break in when she fired the gun.
Chicago police said the 34-year-old officer was shot in the left shoulder. The bullet traveled through him, fracturing a vertebrae before it ended up lodged in the muscle of his right shoulder.
The officer is in the ICU at Stroger Hospital, but expected to make a full recovery.
Chicago police said officers were executing a search warrant for drugs and weapons at a home on West Potomac when, from inside, 19-year-old Emily Petronella fired a shot. The bullet went through the backdoor striking the lead officer.
Petronella's family told CBS 2 she feared someone was breaking in to her home. A friend who wanted to remain anonymous said they've had a break-in there before.
"I understand if the cops did just bust in and it was a self-defense type of thing," said the friend.
Petronella's defense attorney appeared to be suggesting that somehow his client was not aware police were serving a search warrant.
"At this point we are confident that the Chicago Police Department's use of body worn cameras will exonerate her in this case," said attorney Stefan Fenner.
But prosecutors said it was clear that is was police who were entering the home. They pulled up in marked cars with lights flashing and were wearing identification.
"They again announced loudly 'Chicago police, search warrant," said Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Ravin. "Then officers used a battering ram to attempt to breach the door."
Inside the home, police recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, and more than 10,000 grams of suspected marijuana. Petronella was in the home out on bond for a misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of a weapon. Police said last month at a traffic stop, they found a shotgun in her car, along with almost $2,000 in cash.
Petronella is charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder along with a manufacture and delivery of cannabis and several other weapons charges. She is being held without bond.
