COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Chicago man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to shooting Chicago Police Officer Del Pearson in his chest in 2012.
The decorated officer was shot just above his protective vest as he chased a gunman during an overnight shift in the South Chicago District on March 19, 2012, the Tribune reported at the time.
Pearson was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and survived his injuries following several surgeries.
Gunman Paris Sadler, now 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted murder of a peace officer. He is expected to be sentenced Thursday morning by Cook County Judge Thaddeus Wilson.
According to media reports, Pearson was shot about 10:45 p.m. March 19, 2012, in the 8400 block of South Kingston Avenue. He had stopped to question alleged curfew violators, one of whom took off running into an alley. Pearson chased the man, later revealed to be Sadler, and Sadler opened fire — striking the officer in his chest.
Police later found the .38-caliber blue-steel revolver used in the shooting inside Sadler's mother's basement, according to the Tribune.
Pearson, a second-generation Chicago cop, joined the force in his late 30s. He previously worked in construction and as an auxiliary police officer in a small town in northwest Indiana.
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