Suspected cop killer had violent past, was free on pretrial release

A man with a criminal history reaching back at least to 2017 was on pretrial release when police say he opened fire on two Chicago officers inside Swedish Hospital, killing one and leaving the other critically wounded.

The shooting unfolded Saturday morning, April 25, 2026, inside Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital in the 2700 block of W. Foster Ave. in Lincoln Square, where police said the suspect was already in custody and receiving treatment for an unrelated incident. Chicago police said he used a firearm to shoot the two officers around 10:50 a.m. A gun was recovered at the scene. The hospital campus was locked down, but no staff members or patients were injured.

The officer killed was identified as John Bartholomew, 38, a 10-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. The second officer, identified in multiple reports as a 57-year-old with 21 years on the force, remained in critical condition. Police said they were not naming the suspect until he is charged in Bartholomew’s murder and the shooting of his partner.

What makes the case especially stark is the man’s path to that hospital room. WGN Investigates reported he had previously faced armed robbery and kidnapping charges, along with other cases dating to at least 2017, and had served prison time. He was also awaiting trial in an April 2025 carjacking case in Bronzeville, where a woman said she was ambushed at gunpoint.

Court records cited by WGN show that after an initial detention order, he was released on electronic monitoring in December 2025. In January 2026, he was allowed to leave home for work. By March, the monitor had stopped transmitting and he violated curfew, prompting a warrant. The victim in the Bronzeville case reacted with visible anger, saying, “I’m So Mad!”

The case now puts renewed pressure on Cook County’s pretrial system, especially the use of electronic monitoring for defendants accused of violent offenses. In a statement to WGN, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said prosecutors had repeatedly warned that electronic monitoring is not appropriate for people who pose a public-safety threat and that they seek detention in every violent felony case where the defendant presents that risk.

For Chicago, the questions are now larger than one hospital shooting. They reach into earlier charging decisions, release conditions, supervision failures and the narrow window in which a suspect with a long record moved from court-ordered monitoring to a gunfight that left one officer dead and another fighting for his life.