• Andres Vasquez Lasso was shot and killed in front of innocent children.
  • The shooting that killed another Chicago police officer occurred outside a school on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
  • Officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso, 32, was shot multiple times while chasing an armed suspect.

Officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso, 32, was shot multiple times as he pursued an armed suspect in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue, across the street from Sawyer Elementary School, around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday.

The woman who called 911 told authorities the brutal shooting happened in front of many children at play.

According to witnesses, the sound of the shots terrorized the innocent children, who began running behind slides and anything they could find for cover.

The woman who reported the incident to 911 said her 10-year-old sister was playing with other children when they saw the suspect, identified by police as 18-year-old Steven Montano, pull a gun on Vasquez-Lasso.

“I am sorry for the loss of the police officer’s family and his colleagues and friends,” the woman said, asking not to be named out of concern for her safety. “But I’m glad they were there to protect my sister and her friends.”

Vasquez-Lasso was indeed a hero, as despite his injuries, he was able to return fire and shoot Montano in the head, police said. Montano was reported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

The next day, Montano was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm near a school, as well as felonies of simple assault and interference with reporting domestic violence.

Officer Vasquez Lasso was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Many officers gathered at the hospital to pay their respects and condolences to the fallen officer.

The procession took the deceased officer’s body to the Cook County morgue on the West Side.

A woman, Maria Dávila, was watching a movie at home when the shooting happened. Dávila, 44, said she first thought it was fireworks when she heard a loud noise.

She went to the window and saw Montano in a parking lot next to the playground, clutching his chest and screaming, and another man, Vasquez-Lasso, lying closer to the playground and not moving.

shouted Montano, “shoot me, shoot me” to a second officer standing between him and Vasquez-Lasso.

The children hiding behind the slides and panels watched all this for at least 20 minutes.