Chicago police charged a man late Sunday in connection with the weekend shooting death of an off-duty police officer.
Sergio Morales, 24, was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrolman Avidael Rosales, 27, who was killed after he became involved in an altercation with a man on a Southwest Side street.
Police said the shooting, which occurred at 5850 S. Fairfield Ave., started after patrons left Reggie’s bar, 2710 W. 59th St., at about 4 a.m. Saturday.
Rosales had picked up his girlfriend and was walking her home when the shooting occurred, investigators said.
Morales, who was said to be a regular patron of the bar, was believed to have been in the bar with Rosales just before closing.
Rosales allegedly got into an altercation with Morales on the street. Police said the attacker fired three shots at Rosales, striking the officer twice.
Rosales, a six-year veteran of the police force, was the second off-duty Chicago police officer shot in a three-day span.
On Thursday, Patrolman Anthony Young, 41, was killed in a shootout on the West Side after two people robbed him while he was sitting in his car in Garfield Park.
Moments after Rosales was shot, police launched a manhunt for a suspect they said was well known around the Southwest Side neighborhood. Police issued a radio dispatch stating that the man was possibly fleeing the city in an unknown vehicle and might be headed for Mexico.
Morales was arrested without incident at about 4 a.m. Sunday at a home in the 4900 block of West Parker Avenue, police said.
Rosales was most recently assigned to a special gang and narcotics team in the Albany Park District.
