Off-duty Chicago police officer Areanah Preston, 24, was shot and killed in the Avalon Park area early Saturday morning on her way home from work.
Reports suggest she was shot five times in the back of the head, execution-style.
Preston was a new officer to the department and had recently completed her master’s degree.
Officer Areanah Preston was shot and killed on the 8100 block of S Blackstone.
We’re told she recently finished her master’s degree and is relatively new officer for the Chicago Police Department.
Circumstances around the shooting remain unclear and many rumors are floating… pic.twitter.com/4WdtNyhlm2
— 16th & 17th District Chicago Police Scanner (@CPD1617Scanner) May 6, 2023
More prelim details on murder of CPD cop Areanah Preston:
She fired three shots before being hit with multiple shots. Her gun was taken.
Responding cop found her DOA in her yard. Tried to work her before rushing her to hospital.
Shot 5x incl back of the head, execution-style.
— Dan Proft (@DanProft) May 6, 2023
The Chicago Sun Times reports:
Police radio traffic shows the city’s gunshot system ShotSpotter quickly registered nine rounds in the area. The shooting erupted during a stickup that may be related to another nearby robbery, according to law enforcement sources, who said Preston’s gun was taken.
An Apple Watch later indicated there was a traffic crash in the block at about 2:02 a.m. and called 911, according to radio traffic. At about 2:15 a.m. — more than 30 minutes after the shootout — a responding officer reported Preston had been shot.
“We got a person shot,” the officer is heard saying over the radio. “It’s an off-duty [police officer]. Get an ambulance here now.”
Preston worked in the Calumet District and has been a member of the police department for three years. Reached by phone, her father, Allen Preston, said he hadn’t heard concrete details about what happened.
“She was trying to make a change on this Earth,” said Allen Preston, who lives in Los Angeles. “It’s unforgivable [what happened to her] in my eyes.”
He described his daughter as a “beautiful soul” who “always saw the best in people” and had long desired to become a cop. To him, her calling seemed more like destiny since he and his ex-wife had a police escort to the hospital before she was born.
