In what is becoming far too commonplace, one of our hero veterans, who had survived in the sandbox, was murdered at home - in front of his childhood home.
As my regular readers know, I believe we should focus on how our heroes LIVED, rather than dwell on how they left us too soon. The following was researched - and put together - by the Living Legend Team of Soldiers' Angels, and I share it here with their permission.
Chicago Police Department
Illinois
End of Watch: Wednesday, May 19, 2010Biographical Info
Age: 30
Tour of Duty: 2 years, 11 months
Badge Number: 6181Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: Shot and killedOfficer Thomas Wortham was shot and killed after identifying himself as a police officer when four suspects attempted to rob him while he was off duty at 11:25 pm.
Officer Wortham was visiting his parent's home to show pictures from the previous week's Police Week activities that he attended in Washington, DC. As he was leaving, four men approached and attempted to rob him of his motorcycle. Officer Wortham drew his service weapon and fired at the suspects, but was fatally shot.
His father, a retired Chicago police sergeant, witnessed the shooting from his window. He exited the house, exchanging shots with the suspects, killing one and seriously wounding another. The remaining two suspects fled in a vehicle, but were taken into custody the following day.
Officer Wortham had served with the Chicago Police Department for nearly three years and was assigned to the Englewood District. He had recently returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq while serving with the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
Last week, as a soft rain fell, Tom Wortham stood on the Cole Park basketball courts across from the home his grandfather built half a century ago.
The 30-year-old Chicago police officer was proud of that home and his Chatham community. But lately trouble had been creeping in — two shootings at the park and gangs on the neighborhood's fringes.
Wortham, just back from a second tour in Iraq, had settled in for another fight. He and other residents were not going to let Chatham go easily.
Wortham did not seem angry as he spoke with a Tribune reporter last week. Hands in his pocket, he listened respectfully as two older Chatham residents talked. When he spoke up, Wortham displayed a quiet calm but a deep concern for the brewing violence.
"It's starting to feel like it's expected in this community," he told the reporter, adding later: "When people think of the South Side of Chicago, they think violence. In Chatham, that's not what we see. It's happened. And we're going to fix it, so it doesn't happen again."
Late Wednesday, Wortham became the latest casualty, fatally gunned down in front of his family home just steps from the basketball courts after four men tried to rob him of a brand-new motorcycle, Chicago police said. His father, a retired Chicago police sergeant, witnessed the attack from the front of his home and wielded his own weapon to try to defend his son.
One of the robbers was killed and a suspect was critically injured. A third suspect surrendered to police by late afternoon, and the last was picked up during a traffic stop Thursday evening, sources said.
Wortham was a three-year officer and a first lieutenant in the Army National Guard. He had returned from Iraq in March.
"That man had strong roots, the family structure. You are not going to uproot that,'' Marc Robertson, 48, who had stood with Wortham last week, said Thursday. "I don't find too many 30-year-old men that have the passion to do volunteer work for the community. It gave me a lot of hope that I wasn't by myself. … We're numb, stunned, angry, disappointed and hurt — and rightly so because the unimaginable has happened. He is a fallen solider, a fallen officer, a fallen community leader, a fallen son and a fallen brother.''
Police were awaiting ballistics tests for a more definitive picture of the shootout, which involved a volley of shots from Wortham, who was off-duty; his father, Thomas Wortham III; and at least one of the armed robbers. Some 15 casings were being tested.
Early reports from police sources painted a harrowing assault that the elder Wortham witnessed about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. The two had just spent the night sharing photos from Wortham's trip last week to Washington, D.C., where he attended the annual national memorial to slain officers. He also wanted to show his father his newly purchased motorcycle.
After saying goodnight, Wortham walked to the bike, which was parked on the street in front of the house at 85th Street and King Drive. When he reached the street, two gunmen approached and put a gun to his head in an attempt to steal the motorcycle, sources said.
From the doorway, Wortham's father yelled at the attackers to leave his son alone, the sources said. One gunman told Wortham to shut the door, they said.
In that moment of distraction, Wortham pulled out his service weapon and identified himself as a police officer, the sources said. A burst of shots by the officer and his attackers followed, they said.
His father rushed to a ground-floor bedroom, returned with a handgun and open fire, the sources said. From ballistics tests, police will attempt to determine who exactly shot the two robbers.
Wortham, who was assigned to the Englewood District, was pronounced dead just after midnight. Wortham is the second Englewood District officer to be killed in the last year. Alejandro "Alex" Valadez, 27, was shot in West Englewood in June 2009.
One of the suspects, Brian Floyd, 20, of the 3700 block of South Princeton Avenue, lay dead on the street. A second suspect, Floyd's cousin Marcus, was critically injured.
Two other suspects who were inside a nearby red Nissan Maxima fled the area, striking and dragging Wortham with the getaway car, police said.
No charges were filed by Thursday night.
The criminal histories of three of the suspects include convictions for drug conspiracy, weapons charges and battery. Brian Floyd had a misdemeanor gun-related conviction.Inside her Wentworth Gardens neighborhood apartment Thursday evening, Floyd's mother, Lucille, tried to make sense of the death of her only son. Her son's cousin was on a hospital ventilator in very critical condition with perhaps only days to live, she said.
The two cousins, the only boys in their family, were as close as brothers, she said. Floyd said the cousins went out Wednesday for a night of drinking with two friends. She said it somehow changed into a game of dare over who would rob someone at gunpoint, she said.
Neighbors gathered near the Wortham home all day Thursday as well-wishes and gifts were delivered to the family. Ministers and representatives from the Army also paid their respects.
The shooting sent shudders through an already rattled neighborhood.
Chatham has been a stronghold of Chicago's black middle class since the 1950s. Many of the families who moved in then have remained, creating a close-knit though aging community.
But it has been on the brink of transformation as reports of property neglect increased and — though the neighborhood was long considered safe — crime has been on the rise in the last few years.
After dark, Cole Park can become a scary place, filled with strange teenagers from different neighborhoods claiming the park as a part of their turf.
"It used to be something to be proud of," said Wesley Anderson, 44, who has lived most of his life in the neighborhood. "You'd stick your chest out and say, 'I'm from Chatham.'"
Just last month, after two recent shootings at Cole Park, Ald. Freddrenna Lyle, 6th, closed down the basketball courts.
That was why Wortham and others had come out in the rain last week — to explain to a Tribune reporter about the need to tackle these problems straight on.
The hoops would have to be shut down — for now, they agreed. But they planned to mobilize community support around the park. They'd talk to adults in the area and persuade them to use the park and help monitor activities. And they'd ask the city for help as well.
Wortham seemed confident that the neighborhood would respond and take care of the park — and Chatham.
At Cole Park on Thursday, children and fathers played baseball in the field. Women walked the park's track in pairs, dressed in sweats and rain jackets. Neighbors waved to each other, and families walked hand in hand.
And later, in a light rain, some 200 mourners gathered to pay their respects to Wortham.Sunday was supposed to be the day Chicago police Officer Thomas Wortham IV was to join hundreds of residents in reclaiming the Chatham neighborhood, which has been plagued recently by gun violence.
Wortham never made it. He was shot to death Wednesday night in front of his parents' home after four men tried to steal his new motorcycle, police said.
But as neighbors continued to reel over Wortham's death, they came out to Cole Park on Sunday toting coolers of pop and sharing memories to show support for the officer's family and to send a message to those responsible for the rash of crime in the neighborhood."If we're in the park, the bad guys stay out," Ald. Freddrenna Lyle, 6th, said.
Wortham, who worked in the Englewood Police District, had become increasingly concerned with making the park, which is across the street from his parents' home, a safer place after recent shootings shut down the basketball court.
Wortham and others planned to hold a fellowship gathering there on the first 80-degree day to stake their claim on the neighborhood....
[...]Though Wortham, who had just returned from a second tour of duty in Iraq as a first lieutenant in the Army National Guard, was absent from Sunday's fellowship meeting, the vision he had for it was honored, his friends and supporters said....
All the above from LL @ SA.
An excerpt from the Chicago Tribune:
Behind the badge
Updated: 10:3 PM 5/21/2010
Tom Wortham was not there to talk to me as a cop.
Chatham residents Marc Robertson, from left, Thomas Wortham IV, and Keith Tate discuss neighborhood safety May 11 after shootings on the basketball court. Eight days later, Wortham was killed in an attempted robbery nearby.
When I met him on a basketball court in Chatham, he was among a group of leaders who took on the challenge that had been leveled on the community — to hang on to the neighborhood they knew growing up. He and two other community leaders met me in Cole Park at 85th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to talk about the growing sense that gangs and violence were moving in.
I asked the men about their families and jobs — standard questions — and Wortham said he was a cop, in Englewood.
My eyes darted up. Questions formed in my head. This was a story about escalating crime, after all.
But before I could say anything, Wortham politely added: You don't have to print that.
There was a practical reason for him to say that. The Chicago Police Department generally does not allow officers to talk to the media without permission.
But the other thing that struck me was this: Wortham was not there as a cop. He was there to represent his neighborhood.
He wanted to talk about Chatham. About the brick house across the street where his mother grew up. The one, he said, his grandfather built.
At 30, Wortham was far younger than the two others. But I sensed a strong and quiet presence, a purpose.
He talked about neighbors like the doctor who lived down the street. And in a moment that gave me pause, he said this: It was starting to feel like the violence was expected in Chatham.
In the next couple of days I returned to Cole Park for more interviews. I saw Wortham around his parents' house. He had just returned from serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard and had time off. He was in and out — waving when he saw me.
When I last spoke to him — by phone — I asked if he preferred to be identified as Tom or Thomas. He told me it didn't matter to him. Pretty low-key guy, I thought. We settled on Tom — I am not sure why.
The story ran last Sunday. Wortham was quoted first because he made such a strong statement about his fear of losing Chatham and how he'd fight that — which he signaled with the simple phrase "we're going to fix it."
As he had requested, I identified him not as a Chicago police officer, but as president of the Cole Park advisory council.
Overnight Thursday, Wortham was slain, shot down in a robbery in front of his family home while he was off duty. He was steps from the park and the spot where I had met him.
[...]
For certain, Wortham's work as a Chicago police officer was part of the narrative that unfolded so sadly this week. He had three years of service in the same career his father had pursued.
Chicago police issued a statement of mourning. Officer Thomas E. Wortham IV, Star No. 6181, served with distinction, it said.
He will be remembered for that. But what also will be remembered — through countless stories and in the photos that Tribune photographer Jose M. Osorio took that day – is the Tom Wortham I met in the park.
One of three neighborhood men who wanted to protect their community.
Wortham clearly loved his 'hood — something anybody from Chicago understands. He seemed like a guy who liked being around his parents, someone who probably bounded up the front steps of their home as often as I do at my own parents' house.
[...]
...I am glad he showed up that morning at the park and that people understood him as a guy from Chatham who was trying to make it better. (here)
From Washington Post:
[...] Wortham joined the Police Department in June 2007, according to Chicago police Superintendent Jody Weis.The Officer Down Memorial Page also honours Officer Wortham IV here."Officer Wortham was a true guardian to those he served and an inspiration to his friends and colleagues," Weis said in a statement Thursday. "The entire city of Chicago has suffered a tragic loss."
Bob Alberts, the assistant principal at Brother Rice High School, from which the slain officer graduated in 1998, said Wortham ran track for four years and played football.
"He had a great personality. He was bubbly, he was funny," Alberts said. (here)
From Chicago Sun Times:
Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) has known Wortham and his family for years. She said she’s outraged that “an intelligent young man” she called “the best we had to offer” survived war, only to be gunned down in the neighborhood — Chatham — where three generations of his family lived....
[...]
Lyle called him “a surprisingly mild-mannered and softspoken young man. He would always make us feel so old because he was always saying, ‘Yes, ma’am. Yes, sir.’ I kept telling him, ‘Don’t call me ma’am. We’re not old enough.’ ”
[...]Former Ald. Robert Shaw (9th) visited Wortham’s parents today.
“He grew up running across my grass. A good kid from a nice family. ...(here)
Please keep this family - mourning the loss of their precious son - in your hearts and prayers.
ALWAYS remembered and honoured.
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