AFTER 4 FELONY CONVICTIONS, WHY WAS THIS PAROLEE ON PAROLE?

Gunman On Parole Continued Firing After Shooting Chicago Police Officer

By Jeremy Gorner

Chicago Tribune
December 8, 2017

CHICAGO -- A man shot a Chicago police officer in the hand Wednesday night on the Far South Side, knocking him to the ground, then continued to fire at the officer, police officials said Thursday.

Police later said a second bullet was found in the officer’s bulletproof vest.

At a news conference outside the southwest suburban hospital where the officer is recovering, a visibly frustrated Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the shooting illustrates the risks that officers face every day.

"I can't find the words to articulate to you all how this upsets me because, listen, this officer could've easily gotten killed last night," Johnson told reporters outside Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. "And I've told you all before, it's not my goal to have mass incarceration or to lock everybody up, but these violent offenders, they don't deserve to be on the streets of this city."

Johnson said the five-year department veteran was in "good spirits" and expected to make a full recovery.

On Thursday afternoon, Anthony Woodridge, 25, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery.

Johnson said the Woodridge was on parole following his release from prison in June after being sentenced to 4½ years for felony handgun possession. He has some 15 arrests as an adult and four felony convictions, Johnson said.

This is the account Johnson gave reporters: Two plainclothes Calumet District officers approached a group of people loitering and "acting suspiciously" in a parking lot at 95th Street and Calumet Avenue in the Rosemoor neighborhood shortly before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. Officers gave chase when two ran away. One turned and fired a shot at one of the officers, striking him in the hand and knocking him down. The gunman continued firing at the wounded officer before the officer and his partner returned fire. No one was struck by the officers' gunfire.

"Now imagine if this guy would be so brazen to fire at a Chicago police officer, what would he do to the average citizen of this city?" Johnson said.

Both officers were wearing vests and were equipped with body cameras. They will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days — a routine move after police fire their weapons. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the city agency that investigates police-involved shootings, was investigating.