An Oak Park police detective was killed Friday morning by a gunman who was seen leaving a bank, marking the first killing of an officer in the line of duty in the near west suburb in 86 years, officials said.
Detective Allan Reddins, a five-year veteran of the department, was shot in his left side shortly after 9 a.m. while responding to a call of a person armed with a gun who was seen leaving a Chase Bank branch, according to Oak Park police Chief Shatonya Johnson.
Johnson said Reddins along with several other responding officers ordered the suspect to show his hands, but he instead “brandished a firearm” and opened fire.
Reddins, 40, was transported to Loyola University Medical Center in critical condition and died of his injuries at approximately 10:10 a.m., Johnson said.
“We’re hurting right now,” Johnson said at a news conference Friday evening. “I’m hurting. His family is hurting.”
The suspect was shot in the leg during the confrontation and was treated at the scene before being transported to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was in custody Friday night, police said.
Johnson said the investigation was ongoing and she did not take any questions about what led up to the shooting. Asked for more details about the alleged gunman, Johnson said she didn’t want to give him any more “air time” on the news.
Reddins, of Chicago, joined the Oak Park force in 2019 after a stint with Metra police and quickly established himself as a “natural leader,” Johnson said. He was promoted to investigations in 2022 and closed several substantial cases in his time as a detective, she said.
“He would always take the extra step to say ‘what else,’ and that is huge,” the chief said. “I thought he would make a phenomenal field training officer as well, and was looking forward to him becoming a sergeant.”
Reddins was a “devoted family man” and leaves behind his mother and siblings and a 19-year-old son, Johnson said.
“We had so many conversations about his mother,” said Johnson, who described Reddins’ son as “a bright young man with a bright future ahead of him.”
Reddins’ death marks the first line of duty death for the Oak Park Police Department since 1938. She said the 86-member force was “in mourning.”
“We have a very close-knit police department,” Johnson said, adding that many officers who were home celebrating the holiday came in to offer help, and a sergeant was able to pick Reddins’ mother up and drive her to the hospital.
“He had a whole community there at the hospital,” Johnson said. “We wrap our arms around each other. … This is the worst day for any chief of police.”
Johnson also said she’d heard from leaders of other departments around the area, offering assistance and condolences, including Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling.
Funeral information will be posted on the Oak Park village website, Johnson said.
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