The official Illinois flag-lowering scheduled for Wednesday is not for a fallen soldier, as written earlier. I have received information from that State of Illinois, as follows:
"WHEREAS, on Wednesday, May 19, Chicago Police Department Officer Thomas Wortham IV was the victim of an attempted robbery, during which he announced his office, exchanged gunfire with the offenders, and was subsequently mortally wounded. He was 30; and
"WHEREAS, Officer Wortham is the second officer from the Englewood District killed in the last year; and
"WHEREAS, Officer Wortham had been on the force for three years, and had recently returned from a second tour of duty in Iraq; and
"WHEREAS, Officer Wortham followed in the footsteps of his father, who is also a military veteran and a retired Chicago police Sergeant; and
"WHEREAS, Officer Wortham, a graduate of Brother Rice High School, worked to fight crime in the neighborhood he grew up in, both as a Police Officer and as president of the Cole Park advisory council; and
"WHEREAS, Officer Wortham was a conscientious and professional officer who will be remembered for the dedication and commitment to duty that he showed throughout his career; and
"WHEREAS, funeral services for Officer Wortham, who is survived by his parents, will be held on Friday, May 28:
"THEREFORE, I, Pat Quinn, Governor of the State of Illinois, do hereby order all persons or entities governed by the Illinois Flag Display Act to fly their flags at half-staff from sunrise on May 26, 2010 until sunset on May 28, 2010 in honor and remembrance of Officer Wortham, whose selfless service and sacrifice is an inspiration."
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3 comments:
My sympathy goes out to the family of the officer. Maybe if Illinois had a concealed carry law permiting well trained civilians to help the police it would have been the bad guys who would have been the ones that died and not a public servant doing his job. Its about time the bad guys start to worry about armed trained civilians.
Not to dispute your position on concealed carry as I fully support, this isn't the incident to use to promote it. Wortham was an off-duty police officer, sitting on his motorcycle. Presumably he was (or could/should have been armed). It happened outside his house and his father, a retired CPD sgt exacted instant justice on one of the offenders and parked a second in the hospital. There is some crime that even a gun won't prevent.
I was robbed at gunpoint in a restaurant parking lot in Denver in 1973. It was a winter night. Fortunately, I was not carrying that night, because one of the robbers patted me down. I would have had no chance to draw from a belt holster under my overcoat. The robbers got only my watch and the money left over after the meal. They were mad, but they didn't shoot.
Local cops grabbed them 20 minutes later, when the driver made a U-turn in front of the police car.
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