Flags were lowered to fly at half staff in Illinois Thursday and they were expected to remain at half-staff for several days to honor a Chicago police officer who was killed in the line of duty.
A notice from the Department of Central Management Services said it received direction from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's office that all locations under the Illinois Flag Display Act should fly flags in half-staff beginning at sunrise Thursday, Nov. 14 for fallen Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez.
Martinez, 26, was killed Monday, Nov. 4 while conducting a traffic stop in the city's East Chatham neighborhood. Martinez was just shy of his third anniversary with CPD when he was killed.
Darien McMillian, 23, the man suspected of shooting and killing Martinez was on electronic monitoring at the time of the incident and had been previously convicted of a felony, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling. McMillian was facing several charges associated with the incident, including two counts of murder, felony attempted murder, possession of a machine gun and burglary charges, officials said.
"Our officers go out and face this type of danger every single day," Snelling said. "And this work is unpredictable. We never know what's in store for our officers when they're out there trying to keep the public safe. And just remember, in a city where our officers are not safe, its going to be hard for everyone else to be safe."
According to the state's Department of Central Management Services, flags were expected to remain at half-staff through sunset on Monday, Nov. 18.
Under provisions of the Illinois Flag Display Act, any building or property that is maintained by the state of Illinois, or local and municipal governments, shall lower both the U.S. and Illinois flags to half-staff at the order of the governor or president.
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