This morning the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation honors Chicago Police Officers Patrick Bunyon and John Pilolli who arrested two offenders and recovered two loaded handgun after being shot at while taking a weapon off of the street.
Officer Patrick Bunyon and Officer John Pilolli are members of the 15th district tactical team and on July 4, 2018 at 2:40am they were monitoring an area of street violence brought upon by a faction of the Four Corner Hustlers. Using the latest technology which includes camera surveillance, they became aware of a subject holding a handgun in the area. Armed with the description, the Officers responded. Together they worked as a team to capture the gun wielding subject before they could use it against the citizens of the Austin district.
As the officers approached the offender, the offender raised the handgun and fired it in the direction of the officers. As the offender ran away, the officers pursued him and observed a second offender with a handgun and ordered him to drop the weapon and surrender to the officers. Instead of complying, the offender fired his gun at the Officers who then returned fire.
Luckily, no police Officer was injured during the volley of gunfire and the offender eventually surrendered to the police. At that time a fully loaded chrome revolver was recovered and the subject was taken into custody. A systematic search of the area allowed the Officers to recover another gun, the weapon originally spotted in the surveillance.
The Officers continued to search for the initial offender who had made good his escape. The Officers returned to the station and scanned reports and photographs and identified the initial offender in the investigation. The officers located a photo of the Offender and shared it with the detective division. A search warrant was obtained and the subject was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder. In total two individuals were arrested and two handguns were recovered.
This is another example of a day in the life of those tactical Officers who work to identify the offenders who are preying on the innocent in Chicago. These tactical officers, in every district and in specialized units, are using the latest technology to bring justice to the streets and remove guns from the criminal’s hands. This is one example of the over 9500 guns taken off of the streets in 2018.
“These Officers will say they are just doing their job, but they go above and beyond any simple job. They are dedicated to their position as an Officer in the Chicago Police Department, another example of the fine caliber of Officers who are working to make Chicago safe,” said Phil Cline, Executive Director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
We are proud to make Officer Patrick Bunyon and Officer John Pilolli our February Officers of the Month.