An investigation is underway after an off-duty Chicago police detective was wounded Tuesday afternoon by gunfire after intervening in a stabbing that left a woman dead in the city’s Portage Park neighborhood. NBC Chicago’s JC Navarrete reports.
The identities of a suspect and a woman he allegedly stabbed to death Tuesday afternoon in Portage Park have been released by officials.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified the woman as 54-year-old Lacramioara Beldie, of the 6000 block of North Harding Avenue.
The suspect was identified as 57-year-old Constantin Beldie, of the 5700 block of West Giddings Street.
The incident also left an off-duty Chicago police detective wounded by gunfire after he intervened in the stabbing Tuesday afternoon.
Police said the off-duty detective was observed a man stabbing a woman just after 2:20 p.m. in the 5600 block of West Leland Avenue when he intervened, firing shots at the suspect who later fled the scene.
While attempting to stop the assailant, police said the detective sustained a graze wound to the leg. The woman stabbed succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The detective was taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
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A nearby resident described hearing the attack as it unfolded to NBC Chicago.
"I heard her scream then I heard the gunshots, and that’s when my heart sank it was a blood curdling heart dropping type of scream,” neighbor Thomas Desenfants said.
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Area residents also expressed concern over the incident's proximity to an elementary school, with the horrifying attack unfolding just around a block away from Prussing Elementary School.
"[I'm] shocked and very upset because if it happened once, it can always happen again and that scares," neighbor Dolores Rosenthal said.
According to Chicago police, the suspect was later found dead inside a vehicle in the 5500 block of West Leland Avenue.
The shooting is under investigation by the city's Civilian Office of Police Accountability. There was no further information available.
