Officer Jose Vazquez made his neighbors feel safer about living in a gentrifying but still dicey stretch of the West Side, sometimes handing out his cell phone number and offering to help if they were in danger.
Police learned about Vazquez's kindness to the residents in the 2500 block of West Harrison Street as they went door to door Monday morning investigating the 34-year-old special operations section officer's murder.
Vazquez was shot dead in the gated parking area of his condominium at about 1:45 a.m. Monday after arriving home from a second job, Supt. Philip Cline said Monday. .
Police believe Vazquez was the victim of an armed robbery and that it may have been a crime of opportunity with the killer seeing him drive down the alley alone.
"Personal items" were taken, but his gun was still holstered, Cline said. Sources said the items taken included a wallet and cell phone.
It was the first time a Chicago police officer was slain since March 2002, when Donald Marquez was killed trying to arrest a 77-year-old Logan Square man who started shooting when police knocked in his door. The year before, Officers Brian Strouse and Eric Lee were murdered.
Vazquez joined the Police Department in 1998 and worked six years as a patrol officer in a Northwest Side area that includes several neighborhoods with serious Hispanic gang problems. He was promoted to special operations in July 2004, police said, deployed to gang and drug hot spots across the city. Cline said Vazquez was scheduled to join the elite SWAT unit in two weeks.
"He was a very well thought of police officer," Cline said. "We lost a really good officer today."
When the shooting happened, Vazquez was arriving home from working a security job for the gas company, Cline said. He had called his wife minutes earlier to tell her he was picking up food at White Castle.
Hey thanks for posting that, he was really a great guy and excellent police officer. It is comforting to see the blue line expand back to the homeland with you guys. If I get anything else I'll post it but probably not before that KWflatbed beats me to it, way to stay on the ball, it does not go un-noticed.
Posted by: kwflatbed
Slain Chicago Officer's Family Asks for Help
The family of an off-duty Chicago police officer slain behind his home is calling on residents for information that could help solve his murder. "We want to find out who did this to Jose and ask, 'Why, would you do something like this?' " said Raul Vazquez, older brother of Officer Jose Vazquez. Vazquez, an eight-year member of the Police Department, was returning home early last Monday from a second job as a security guard when he was shot in the chest and robbed of his wallet and cell phone. The Vazquez family, still reeling Sunday night from their loss, asked anyone who might have seen or heard anything that could lead to an arrest to come forward. Although the family said Chicago police detectives have been working around the clock, they aren't satisfied with initial reports that Vazquez was simply the victim of an armed robbery. "Neighbors heard them yelling, but my son was so quiet," said Jose Vazquez's mother, Carmen. "That person must have known him; my heart tells me so." There is a $26,000 reward, and anyone with information in the case is asked to call (800) 535-STOP or (312) 746-4120.
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