You can't get away from this story in Chicago. Unfortunately. We all know there is plenty of disturbing stuff in the news but once in a while one of them grabs you more than others. This one is about a 30 year old Chicago cop who was shot to death in front of his parents' house in a South Side neighborhood Wednesday night. He recently returned from a second tour of duty in Iraq and returned to the job as a Chicago policeman. Wednesday night he was at his folks' house showing them a new motorcycle he had bought himself as a present. As he was leaving, four young punks came up and tried to rob the bike from him at gunpoint. Shots were exchanged. It's still unclear exactly who shot who. Officer Wortham's father, a retired Sergeant in the CPD, grabbed a gun and was doing some of the shooting. When the shooting was over Officer Wortham and one of the robbers were dead, and another was seriously wounded.

The tragic irony is that Thomas Wortham had been working to take back the neighborhood from an uptick in violence. Many people automatically think of ghettos when they think of the South Side of Chicago. Not only does that leave out the many white and Hispanic neighborhoods, it disrespects the solid black neighborhoods like Chatham and the one where Michelle Obama grew up. Lately, though, there had been more problems, especially with non-local gangs congregating in a park. In what those who knew him say was a characteristic act, Wortham was already involved in addressing the problem. This is not the kind of citizen we want to be losing. When we do, it takes some of the spring out of our step.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/community-vigil-honors-fallen-officer.html
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/slain-cop-was-iraq-war-vet-trying-to-save-his-neighborhood.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0521-20100521,0,3497461.column