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CPD officer in Krystal Rivera shooting stripped of police powers, under new investigation
The Chicago Police Department officer who shot and killed Officer Krystal Rivera has been relieved of his police powers.
CHICAGO - The Chicago Police Department officer who shot and killed Officer Krystal Rivera has been relieved of his police powers.
The officer has been the subject of multiple internal investigations and is also tied to a bar incident on the North Side last weekend.
What we know:
The police department confirmed that an officer has been relieved of his police powers, effective Friday, as internal affairs conducts an investigation.
The officer has been identified by multiple reports and by attorneys as Carlos Baker, who accidentally shot and killed his former police partner, Rivera, in June.
The Illinois Answers Project and the Chicago Sun-Times report that Baker has had numerous complaints and investigations throughout his career, most recently at the DSTRKT Bar on North Milwaukee Avenue on Aug. 10, where Baker allegedly battered a 29-year-old woman before leaving the bar at 11 p.m.
Multiple reports say Baker allegedly then tried to interfere in the internal investigation into that incident.
Attorney Antonio Romanucci is representing Rivera’s family as they seek answers in the accidental shooting death. On Friday, they expressed mixed emotions.
"While the Rivera family and their legal team wholly believe removing Carlos Baker's police powers is the appropriate decision, we called for this from the earliest days after he fatally shot his police partner, Krystal Rivera," said Romanucci. "However, as we stated clearly several weeks ago, the concerns about Carlos Baker go back further than the night he killed Krystal. The city hired this rogue police officer despite knowing he was a danger to the community while he was a probationary officer. They took affirmative action to hire Carlos Baker when the only action should have been to terminate his probation and ensure he never wore a CPD chief or carried a gun. Krystal Rivera would be alive today."
What's next:
FOX 32 Chicago has reached out to the attorney representing Baker as well as Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, who has defended Baker’s actions, but has not received a response.