A young, beautiful Chicago police officer was murdered by a group of teenagers, authorities announced on Wednesday. The four attackers, which included one sixteen-year-old person, have now been charged with the murder of 24-year-old Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston. The brutal attack on the uniformed police officer who had just gone off duty has shocked the greater Chicago community as well as people across the rest of the United States.

Officer Preston had just signed off her police officer shift when she came across the group of teenagers who would ultimately kill her. Preston was shot and killed at about 1:42 am on Saturday, according to a report from the Chicago Police Department.

According to authorities, the four teenagers, ages nineteen, nineteen, eighteen, and sixteen, “were out looking for victims” so they could feel brave and strong by killing them. The four teens are also thought to be linked to several robberies and a car theft that occurred in the hours ahead of Officer Preston’s violent murder, according to a news conference statement provided by interim Chicago Police Superintendent Eric Carter.

Police report that Officer Preston was driving home when the four teens pulled up to her car in the stolen vehicle. At least two of the teenagers used guns to fire upon the uniformed police officer with the Chicago Police Department.

Officer Preston bravely tried to defend herself. She removed her service weapon and returned fire on the violent teenagers. Meanwhile, the teenagers continued to shoot and engage the off-duty officer in a shootout in the middle of the night. When the teens had won the firefight, one of the teens allegedly stole the officer’s service weapon before they fled the scene to leave Officer Preston to bleed out and die. Her gun has not yet been recovered.

On Wednesday, several days after the violent firefight ended the young police officer’s life, the Chicago Police Department identified their four suspects as Trevell Breeland, 19; Joseph Brooks, 19; Jakwon Buchanan, 18. Meanwhile, the sixteen-year-old suspect was not named because they are still being treated as a minor child.

Nevertheless, all four teenage suspects were charged with the first-degree murder of the police officer as well as other charges like armed robbery and arson. Police said that the sixteen-year-old murder suspect would be charged as an adult since the crimes they allegedly committed were so heinous and violent.

Carter said Preston was a “beloved daughter, sister, and friend who wanted to make a difference in this world” and “create a better future for Chicago.”
On May 8, 2023, the Chicago Police shared a social media post on Twitter that said, “We join Officer Preston’s family and loved ones in mourning the loss of our fallen hero. Our hearts are heavy, but through our grief, we will carry on her legacy of service to Chicago and its people.”

Rest in peace to Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston.