CHICAGO — On Thursday, July 1, a one-month-old child was among seven people wounded in a mass shooting in Englewood.
One of the Chicago police officers who rushed the baby to Comer Children’s Hospital and played a key role in saving the toddler’s life was captured by WGN cameras tending to the young shooting victim.
The officer was Ella French.
In the days that followed the deadly shooting that claimed the life of the 29-year-old officer, details continue to emerge about the impact French had on the Englewood community. French was killed in an ambush attack Saturday night in the same Chicago neighborhood where she worked to save lives.
As Terriana Smith continues to recover, the toddler’s uncle Charles McKenzie expressed one regret.
“We never got a chance to thank her,” he said.
The mass shooting in Englewood occurred near 66th and Halsted hours after a 9-year-old girl was shot in the head on the Southside. Standing outside the emergency room, WGN cameras captured French never leaving the side of Terriana, eventually escorting her on a gurney to the emergency room.
“She was like, ‘Everything is going to be OK,'” McKenzie said. ‘We’re here together. I’m not going to leave you guys.'”
Chicago Police Department confirms that French was the officer who drove the baby to receive life-saving treatment.
Community activist Andrew Holmes stood outside the hospital the night of July 1 and said he remembers speaking with French. On Tuesday, he spoke up for her.
“We’re looking at our leaders. They’re pointing their fingers at each other. But these people are pointing guns at each other and they’re letting loose. And they’re shooting people. Why they’re sitting there pointing the fingers, the people out here are pointing guns. And it’s real. Whether you live or die.”
At a prayer vigil held outside the University of Chicago Medical Center, Officer French was remembered, with those in attendance saying the fallen officer embodied the spirit of the motto ‘protect and serve’ and was someone who cared deeply about the Englewood community.