A Metra police officer became the commuter rail line’s first officer killed in the line of duty after an unknown assailant shot him in the head Wednesday night outside an Electric Line station in Harvey and apparently stole his duty weapon as the officer sat in his marked patrol car. Thomas A. Cook, 43, was found slumped over the steering wheel of his patrol car with a bullet wound in the left side of his head and his SIG-Sauer service weapon missing, officials said. The slaying occurred at the 330 block of East 147th Place, across the street from the Metra Electric Line station at 147th and Clinton streets, Metra officials said. According to reports, Metra is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an assailant who shot and killed one of its police officers, authorities of the Chicago-area commuter train service said Thursday. Cook was pronounced dead at 11:50 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The last time anyone in the Metra Police Department spoke to Cook was at 8:07 p.m., officials said. Residents who were taking out their garbage heard a loud noise and then saw people running from the squad car, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. No weapons or shell casings were recovered, sources said. The car was undamaged, and the driver-side window was cracked about 3 inches, police said. Blood hounds searched the murder scene for evidence, police said. He had been an officer with the Metra Police Department since February 2003. Before that, he worked for the Riverdale Police Department for nine years, Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said. He was the first Metra officer to be killed in the line of duty, Pardonnet said. Metra commuters at the Harvey station have long been complaining about rising crime on the platform and around the parking lot, which is controlled by the city of Harvey. Most of those incidents took place at off-peak times when people were walking from their vehicles to the train or vice versa. “I never feel safe,” said Michelle Whitehead of Glenwood, pointing to a fellow male commuter who walks her and other female commuters to their cars in the evening. “If he’s not around, I’m walking out to my car in the dark, looking around, under my car before I get in, because far out in the lot, there's no lights.” In May, Metra’s police department increased patrols at Harvey and other south suburban Metra stations because of an increase in violent crimes, ranging from assault to strong-armed robberies, Metra said. Commuters crossing from the parking lot to the platform have to pass under a viaduct and for weeks, the only light under that viaduct has been smashed out — an on-again, off-again pattern under the viaduct. On Wednesday night, it was functioning again for the first time in weeks, but while it was out, young people often gathered at the base of the steps, standing in the darkness. Months ago, Metra put up cardboard signs announcing a rash of robberies on the platform there, though many of the signs were ripped down and defaced almost as soon as they went up. The signs indicated there would be an increased police presence, but for weeks afterward there were no officers. Then, since late summer, an officer would be seen on the platform or in his car nearby, offering a smile to passing commuters. Two weeks ago, a commuter put up her own hand-made sign, urging other commuters to contact the Harvey police about cars being broken into, commuters being harrassed and robberies on the platform. It, too, was ripped down. The station has no manned ticket office, and Harvey operates a cash window for parking only in the morning hours. That leaves commuters feeling vulnerable. Paulette Adams, of Lansing, said trains on multiple tracks around the platform often block the view from the street, making waiting commuters easy marks. “When I’m alone, I’m just praying,” Adams said. Jason Askew, of Richton Park, called the platform “not one of the places you really want to be after dark.” “The lighting over here is such a problem,” he said.
Contributing: Eric Herman, STNG Wire
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