Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of Bradley police officer

Sun-Times file photo

Authorities issued arrest warrants for Darius D. Sullivan, 25, and Xandria Harris, 26, of Bradley, and were offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, officials said.

A suspect wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a Bradley police officer has been arrested.

Darius Sullivan was taken into custody about 9 a.m. Friday, Illinois State Police said. Arrangements are being made to transport him to Kankakee county.

Authorities had issued arrest warrants for Sullivan, 25, and Xandria Harris, 26, of Bradley, and were offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, officials said. Harris is still at large.

Illinois State Police

Darius Sullivan

On Wednesday, Bradley Police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic and her partner responded to a noise complaint about 9:40 p.m. at the Comfort Inn in the 1500 block of North State Highway 50, Bradley police said.

The officers went in the motel and spoke to people inside, who fired on the officers and struck them both, police said.

Rittmanic, 49, and her partner, Officer Tyler Bailey, 27, were rushed to hospitals in critical condition and Rittmanic later died, police said. Bailey remained in critical condition at a hospital.

Rittmanic had lived in Kankakee and joined the Bradley Police Department in 2007. She previously spent seven years as a deputy with the Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department.

Bradley Police Department

Marlene Rittmanic

Rittmanic’s niece said her aunt had worked for years to reach the rank of sergeant and was five years from retirement.

“The crazy thing is they’d probably have to kick her out, she loved her job so much,” Johnson said. “She wasn’t that type of person that wanted to pull you over to give you a ticket, unless she felt it was absolutely the only thing she had to do, but she wasn’t that kind of cop.

“She always aimed to be a cop to make a difference,” Ashlee Johnson said.

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