Slain in the line of duty, Officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso was a five-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. Responding to a report that a woman was being chased down the street by a man with a gun on Chicago’s southwest side, Officer Vasquez-Lasso exchanged fire with the suspect at close range. Officer Vasquez-Lasso was shot multiple times and later died at Mt. Sinai Hospital. The 18-year-old suspect was shot in his head and is in critical condition. Officer Vasquez-Lasso’s family and fellow officers honored his heroism and mourned his death.
End of Watch: March 1, 2023
On Thursday, March 2, the Illinois House of Representatives heard tributes to the fallen officer and paused for a moment of silence to pay tribute to Vasquez-Lasso. In these tributes, House members honored the service performed by Officer Vasquez-Lasso and by his fellow police officers throughout Illinois. The fallen officer’s name will be memorialized as part of the Illinois Police Memorial, which stands on the grounds of the Illinois State Capitol.
The death of Officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso added fuel to the ongoing discussion about the status of persons who have been arrested, including arrests for violent felony offenses, and are awaiting trial in Illinois. Often, under Illinois criminal law, these trials face long delays, leading to people awaiting trial for extended periods of time. The suspect in the Vasquez-Lasso murder case is a man who was under criminal charge awaiting trial and had been released on a bond of individual recognizance (the so-called I-bond). The suspect’s arrest took place on July 29, 2022, and he had been on the streets following his arrest for seven months while awaiting adjudication of his offense. The suspect allegedly shot and killed Vasquez-Lasso at near-point-blank range during this period. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx defended the decision to give the suspect an I-bond, stating that prior to his July 2022 arrest the defendant had not had a criminal record.