West Cook News

Many services at the Village Hall in Oak Park will be unavailable on Thursday, December 12, to allow employees to attend the funeral of Detective Allan Reddins. While the hall will remain open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., services related to parking, permits, and the cashier’s office will not be available. Online services can still be accessed at www.oak-park.us/onlineservices, and the call center will operate from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Funeral arrangements for Detective Reddins have been announced by the Village of Oak Park and the Oak Park Police Department. A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Friday, December 6, marking one week since his death. The vigil will take place in Oak Park at Village Hall's courtyard starting at approximately 5:30 p.m., with remarks from Police Chief Shatonya Johnson and Village President Vicki Scaman.

The visitation is set for Wednesday, December 11, at Leak & Sons Funeral Home in Chicago from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., including a police officer walkthrough at around 6 p.m. The wake and funeral service will occur on Thursday, December 12, at Apostolic Church of God in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood starting at 10:30 a.m., followed by a private burial.

Detective Reddins was killed while responding to a call on November 29 about an individual with a gun near Chase Bank on Lake Street. He was taken to Loyola Medical Center but did not survive his injuries. His death marks the first line-of-duty loss for an Oak Park officer since 1938.

In connection with this incident, Jerell Thomas has been charged with first-degree murder and other offenses by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Thomas is scheduled for court appearance on Thursday, December 5.

Donations are being collected by Oak Park Lodge #8 of the Fraternal Order of Police via Zelle for supporting Detective Reddins' family through oakparklodge8@gmail.com or www.oak-park.us/reddins.