Chicago officer Ella French shot dead, another officer critically wounded during traffic stop
CBSN
A 29-year-old female police officer in Chicago was killed and another officer was seriously wounded in an exchange of gunfire during a traffic stop, officials said Sunday. The officer killed Saturday night was identified as Ella French, according to a post on the Chicago Police Department's Facebook page Sunday evening.
French's death was the first fatal shooting of a Chicago officer in the line of duty since 2018 and the first female officer fatally shot on the job in 33 years. "We will never forget the true bravery she exemplified as she laid her life down to protect others," the department said of French on Facebook, adding that fellow officers will "grieve the loss of this hero." The department also requested support for French's "wounded partner, who is in the hospital fighting for his life."Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.