A third man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting an off-duty Chicago police officer last month.
Chicago police announced Wednesday that Jacquan Washington, 22, of Chicago, now faces one felony count of first-degree murder and three felony counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the killing.
Two others have also been charged in the case.
Menelik Jackson, 24, and 32-year-old Jovan Battle, of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, were also charged with one felony count of first degree murder and three felony counts of attempted murder, Chicago police said in a statement. Both were ordered held without bail last week.
Jackson, of suburban South Holland, was also charged with resisting or obstructing a peace officer, according to police. He was later identified as the gunman in the shooting, Johnson said.
Rivera was fatally shot in the city's River North neighborhood on March 23, according to police.
The shooting stemmed from an earlier altercation inside what was once known as Chicago's Rock N' Roll McDonald's downtown and is now the chain's flagship eatery at Clark and Ontario. Police said the gunman and a friend were involved in an altercation with a group of people from a party bus, described as Hispanic.
The altercation turned physical and Jackson allegedly fled the scene only to return a short time later, but the party bus had already left, authorities said.
That's when police say Jackson and two others began searching for the party bus and ultimately shot "the first Hispanic man that he came into contact with."
"He got into it with a group of Hispanics, there was a physical confrontation and he wound up murdering a Hispanic so I think that speaks for itself," Johnson said.
At around 3:30 a.m., Rivera was sitting with three other people, including his girlfriend, in a parked Honda Accord in the 700 block of North Clark Street when three people approached the car, according to police. One of the suspects opened fire on the car before the group fled the scene.
Chicago police said Rivera was shot and killed while shielding his girlfriend from the gunfire.
Rivera was shot in the chest, arm and mouth and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. Another 23-year-old man in the car was shot in his chest and arm and taken to Northwestern where he was in "critical but stable" condition and underwent surgery Saturday morning.
Another off-duty Chicago police officer and Rivera's girlfriend were not wounded in the shooting, officials said.
Rivera had been with the department for about two years, police said, and had worked his shift the night before, handling the paperwork on a murder case.
“This appears to be an unprovoked attack against a group of individuals who went out to unwind on a Friday night,” Johnson said at a news conference.
"There’s no problems, there’s no words exchanged,” Deputy Police Supt. Anthony Riccio told reporters.
The incident was captured on a CPD pod camera in the area and police said witnesses and license plate reader technology ultimately led to an arrest in the case.
Jackson, who police say also confessed to the crime, was arrested using Rivera's handcuffs. Police said the alleged weapon used in the "senseless act" and the clothing Jackson was wearing during the shooting, were recovered from his apartment.
Johnson said Rivera was "the kind of officer that we want in Chicago. Hard-worker, who loved going out on patrol and solving problems...he helped investigate a tragic murder, helped console a family on an unthinkable loss."
"My third watch is really struggling because he was such a good person," said Commander William Bradley with the department's 6th District, where Rivera worked.
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A funeral was held for Rivera Friday.
