(Chicago Police Department, IL)
On February 3, 2014, Officer Jorge Flores, while off duty with his wife, son, and nephew, parked his vehicle at a Walgreens in order to use the ATM inside the store. Unbeknownst to him, an armed robbery was occurring inside the Walgreens he was about to enter. A male suspect dressed in a hooded jacket was standing in line at the cash register with a cereal box in his hand.
While in line the suspect approached the counter, produced a black handgun, and ordered the elderly cashier to give him all the money. The cashier, in fear for her life and the lives of the customers, complied with the offender's demands and began placing the money in a bag. At this juncture, Officer Flores entered the store and began walking to the ATM when he observed a distraught cashier placing money in a bag and a male subject standing at the counter with the butt of a handgun protruding from his right jacket pocket.
Officer Flores, in an effort to protect the lives of store employees and customers, immediately took action. He drew his firearm and quietly walked up behind the armed robbery suspect, while making eye contact with the distraught cashier and simultaneously raising his jacket to show the cashier his police star without alerting the offender to his presence.
Once behind the suspect, Officer Flores announced himself and ordered the suspect to put his hands up and surrender. The armed suspect refused, and a struggle then ensued, which led to both Officer Flores and the suspect falling to the ground. This fall resulted in Officer Flores falling on top of the suspect. The suspect continued to refuse to comply and began rolling over and turning his body toward Officer Flores.
While struggling, the suspect told Officer Flores that he would have to shoot him, because he wasn’t going back to jail. The suspect then reached into his right jacket pocket in an attempt to retrieve his handgun. Officer Flores repeated his order for the suspect to stop, but the suspect refused and continued to reach for his handgun. Officer Flores, in fear of his life and the life of the employees and customers, fired one round striking the offender and ending the encounter. The suspect was transported to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.