SignalHub-Man convicted in 2021 fatal shooting of Illinois police sergeant

BRADLEY,SignalHub Ill. (AP) — A man was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the 2021 fatal shooting of one police officer and the wounding of a second as they investigated a complaint over barking dogs at an Illinois hotel.

A sentencing date for Darius Sullivan has not been set.

Bradley Police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic, 49, and officer Tyler Bailey, 27, were responding to dogs barking in an unattended vehicle in the hotel’s parking lot. They were shot after finding the room where the vehicle’s possible owner was staying.

Rittmanic later died at a hospital. She was a 21-year police veteran.

A prosecutor said during a January 2022 court hearing that Sullivan used his own gun to shoot Bailey in the head after the officers knocked on the hotel room door. Rittmanic was shot as she tried to flee, but was chased down a hallway. Sullivan’s girlfriend helped disarm Rittmanic, the prosecutor said.

Rittmanic was shot while pleading for her life, the prosecutor added.

Sullivan was arrested at a home in Indiana two days after the shooting. He had pleaded not guilty.

His girlfriend also was charged with murder and attempted murder. She faces a separate trial.

Bradley is a village about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Chicago.