Chicago City Wire

A Chicago police officer has recovered from the hospital after getting shot during a traffic stop on the 6100 block of South Paulina at approximately 5:42 p.m., a police spokesperson told NBC Chicago. 

“Please keep the Chicago police officer who was shot in the line of duty last night in your prayers for her recovery,” Rep. Brad Stephens wrote on Facebook.

On June 1, Officer Fernanda Ballesteros and her partner were attempting to conduct a traffic stop in West Englewood, but the people in the vehicle fled from the scene, NBC reported. The suspects then brought their car alongside the police car and opened fire.  

The police officer was shot in the shoulder, and bullet fragments also struck her head. Her partner managed to drive her to the hospital, where she was initially listed in critical condition but has since been upgraded to serious condition. The suspects fled from the scene, crashed their vehicle, fled from the vehicle and have not been apprehended.

WGN9 reported the hospital discharged Ballesteros.

While being escorted from the University of Chicago Medical Center in a wheelchair, crowds of fellow officers and others greeted her out the sliding doors.

In 2021, 76 Chicago police officers were shot or shot at, Fox News reported.

“No day is the same for law enforcement. Their actions are a reminder that no matter the task, no matter the risk, Chicago police officers do the best for the people of this great city,” Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said at a press conference. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the 2023 Fiscal Year budget for Illinois that’ll allocate funding toward public safety and violence prevention by providing funding to hire 300 state police troopers.

As of May 29, there had been 232 murders, 952 shooting incidents, 826 criminal sexual assaults, 3,158 robberies, 2,167 aggravated batteries, 2,810 burglaries, 6,577 thefts and 5,128 motor vehicle thefts reported in Chicago in 2022, data from the Chicago Police Department showed.