Chicago

Suspect Charged in Connection With Shooting of ATF Agent

A suspect was charged Tuesday in connection with Friday's shooting of a federal agent on Chicago's South Side. 

Ernesto Godinez appeared in court at the Dirksen Federal Building on charges of forcible assault of a federal agent of the ATF and use of a deadly weapon, authorities said. He could face up to 20 years in prison.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. on May 17. 

The shooting took place at around 3:18 a.m. Friday in the 4500 block of South Hermitage in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood.

The agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was working on a federal investigation with Chicago police officers when he was shot in the head, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. [[481770231, C]]

The agent was taken to a hospital in critical condition, but was treated and expected to make a full recovery, Celinez Nunez, special agent in charge of the ATF's Chicago field divison, said at a news conference.

Authorities declined to give the agent's age and identity due to the ongoing investigation but said he is a Chicagoan.

Authorities on Friday offered a combined total of $61,000 as a reward for information leading to the arrest of suspects in the agent's shooting. 

"You think we're going to take this lying down?" Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a news conference Friday afternoon, addressing the suspects. "I got a message for you: We're coming."

“The people who did this will not have a lot of friends,” said Jeffrey Sallet, FBI Chicago division chief, after announcing the reward, funded by various sources including U.S. Marshals, the FBI and the ATF.

A reward of over $60,000 is being offered for information in connection with the shooting of an ATF agent Friday morning. 

Nunez called for the community to work with law enforcement during the investigation.

“I implore on everybody today to help us bring the assailants responsible for this to justice," Nunez said. "This is an all-hands-on-deck situation."

"I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners throughout the country that have reached out to us and given us their full support," Nunez said at a Friday morning conference.

A federal agent was critically injured in a shooting on Chicago’s South Side early Friday, according to police. NBC 5’s Sandra Torres reports.

Johnson ordered the "full deployment of Chicago Police specialized units to assist" the ATF in the investigation, Guglielmi said, including the organized crime units, as well as area gang, saturation and gun teams. 

The investigation remained ongoing. 

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