At a time when families were preparing to enjoy the long holiday weekend, the unthinkable happened.
Richard Francis, 60, a veteran Chicago Police officer, was shot to death when he responded to a disturbance outside of a CTA bus.
Francis was alone in a squad car when he was flagged down by a CTA bus driver.
No matter what your issues are with police, you have to admire that at 2 in the morning, Francis was on his beat doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing.
And then you have to wonder -- why, in a city that has seen its murder rate climb 13 percent over last year -- you have to wonder why Francis was alone in the squad car.
Suspect may have been mentally ill
Why wasn't there anyone at his side to back him up in case the disturbance proved to be more than he could handle?
We don't know how the shooter, a woman, managed to get the officer's gun during the incident, but Francis was shot in the head and died.
The police officers who rushed to the scene ended up shooting the woman multiple times. She survived the gunshots and was taken to Illinois Masonic, where she was in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.
I don't know, maybe Francis just didn't think the woman was capable of such deadly behavior.
After all, officers said they had seen the woman asleep in chairs at the station, and believed her to be homeless. Other sources told reporters that they believed the woman was mentally ill.
And again, you have to wonder.
'Did his job without complaints'
Why wasn't the city's Department of Health and Human Services called in to intervene? Why wasn't the woman referred to a mental health facility? Why was she allowed to roam the streets?
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis called Francis' death a "tragic loss."
"It is a stark reminder of what the dangers are that the officers of this department face every day," he said.
Compared with the war that is raging on the city's South Side, the Northwest Side has been relatively quiet.
This police shooting is a tragic reminder that officers on the street are battling all kinds of violence.
Murders are up in Chicago. Through the end of June, the city has had 229 murders, compared with 203 for the same period last year.
With all the complaints about police shootings and misconduct, it is also a tough time to be a cop.
But Francis was described by one of his bosses "as someone who did his job without any complaints."
He was a veteran of the midnight watch, and worked in a police wagon. That couldn't have been a fun job.
When you're out in the wee hours of the morning, you see a different Chicago. This Chicago doesn't have the sparkle of the sun lighting up its skyscrapers or the hustle and flow of millions of feet.
This Chicago has the stench of a sweaty day clinging to it and the sparse traffic of those who lurk in shadows.
It is in this Chicago that Francis did what he had to do.
According to neighbors who talked to reporters after the tragedy, the police officer was married and had two stepdaughters.
He got up and went to work every day on the worst possible shift and stayed home with his special-needs stepdaughter so his wife could go to work.
Citizens should honor Francis
If Francis had been a rogue cop, he probably wouldn't have been at the bus stop. If he had been the kind of cop who blows off a call because he's tired of risking his neck for people who seem ungrateful, maybe he would be alive today.
But he wasn't that kind of cop.
"He was one of the cops who never get recognized, but if we didn't have him, this city would be a terrible place," said Bruce Rottner, deputy chief of the Belmont Area.
Chicago Police officers will honor their slain colleague, just as they have always done. But citizens should find ways to honor him as well.
Francis' death reminds us that when a police officer responds to our calls for help, most of them are still putting their lives on the line.
Mary Mitchell is a columnist for the 
Chicago is becoming like Detroit more and more each day with a new murders happening everyday. The cities liberal PC politics makes policing virtually impossible. The decline has begun and will only accelerate.
Larry, your right. I been to Detroit. WOW, thats all I got to say. But you know what, the people have no one to blame but themselves. Look at that corrupt government they voted for. How could anybody vote for a Kwame Kilpatrick? And DC is no better. Think about it. They once voted for Mayor a guy who was caught on VIDEO buying and smoking crack. Right there---caught for the world to see. They voted him in anyway. And you wonder why, like Detroit, that city is totally out of control. And with a corrupt joke like Todd Stroger running Cook County, we better keep our fingers crossed that we don't join those two.
There are plenty of cities in America and around the world that have liberal politics and low murder rates. When will Chicago stop using its minority presence as an excuse for it's crime? One murdered police officer in six years does not an epidemic make.
Another incident of good and evil. A life taken away tragically. We will spend time attempting to lay blame somewhere. It's too late. You can't put spilt milk back into the glass, but we can find ways to prevent spilling it again. again, it is a "WE" thing. The minds of the rightous will prevail. By the way, will the prayer group hold a vigil at this spot. I hope so.
Thank you sincerely,
Rev. Eugene Baker
Another incident of good and evil. A life taken away tragically. We will spend time attempting to lay blame somewhere. It's too late. You can't put spilt milk back into the glass, but we can find ways to prevent spilling it again. again, it is a "WE" thing. The minds of the rightous will prevail. By the way, will the prayer group hold a vigil at this spot. I hope so.
Thank you sincerely,
Rev. Eugene Baker
A column on this from you is an insult- you consistenly question officer's motives and direction in almost every single one of your columns. DO NOT act like a sympathetic and concerned citizen only when opportunity presents itself. You'r obligatory writing of this is disgusting. If you choose to question officer's and the force again and again, DO NOT interject yourself as an understanding and caring person in a time like this! Keep your two faced opinions to yourself.
A good cop with a family is suddenly taken from this earth protecting those who needed it. Where is loud mouth Jesse Jackson and Rev. Phleger to honor this man who protected the community???? Oh wait, there worried about Don Imus making comments about a known criminal like Pacman Jones.
Yes Mary, he was "one of the good guys", and had the encounter gone the other way, I'm sure your column would have pointed out the race of the offender, and how this was another incident that demonstrates the brutality of the C.P.D. against people of color.
Shame on you for this Mary. You hate the police, and now you want to pretend to feel like me and my fellow officers do for our fallen Brother? You are one of the reasons why murderers like your "African-American sister" are on the streets instead of in jail, where she should have been. If she was in jail or in an institution, she would have not been able to murder a great police officer. But no, that would have been racial profiling! Look at the murder stats in this city. You tell me what proportion of them are committed by the evil white people that always try to take advantage of your poor, helpless black community. You are a hypocritical menace to the
In terms of Liberal politics and cities with low murder rates - it is more instructive to study Seattle versus Milwaukee.
These two cities are essentially the same size and have virtually the same demographic makeup. While Seattle has a low murder rate Milwaukee has a much higher rate. Could it really be the draconian gun laws in Milwaukee actually make things worse? Are the likes of the Million Moms - and Mayor Daley - really just plain wrong? Washington State has had concealed carry since long before Florida got on board in 1987. And they have "no duty to retreat" - also long standing. That was the bit of law that drove the anti-gun crowd mad when Florida enacted it last year - and yet blood is not running in the streets in Seattle. Indeed, more blood is running in Milwaukee streets - and in Chicago - with its draconian gun laws.
Why is that?
So many people doing or saying something they regret, me, I don't say things to take them back, this is what I call a DOUBLE-DIPPING, TWO-FACED PERSON, so why say or do something and get on national television to give an apology, if I was the person you said it about you could never get in my face again and the AMERICAN PEOPLE surely doesn't trust you anymore. The World has gone crazy, all because of TWO FACED PEOPLE.
WELL another terrible report on cook county jail how bad the conditions are and how bad the the CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS ARE , NO THEY ARE NOT JAIL GAURDS!!!!
BUT NO ONE MAKES A BIG DEAL ABOUT 14 OFFICERS GETTING INJURED IN a brawl in div 1 two weeks maybe three weeks ago.
now i have enjoyed your column for many years and i will probaly still enjoy it, but look at both sides of what has been written ,youwrote a nice story on the c.p.d. cop who lost his life trying to do his job ,now try and live the life of a c.o. remember they keep people like child murders child molesters , rapist ,drive by shooters ,robbers , basicaly the scum of the earth , and with holding these people you have to make sure none of there civil rights are violated all the while you may get feces ,urine ,or some other god forsaking thing thrown in your face ,or spit on by a person that is hiv positive ,and after all that they put hits on c.o.s trying to do there jobs oh you probaly dont know what a hit is.
a hit is done by gang members to c.o.s it could be a stabbing or
beat down .so plese see both sides,oh and they do there jobs with no GUNS.