An off-duty Chicago police officer died and a woman remained in critical condition after they were both found unresponsive in an Albany Park residence with high carbon monoxide levels Tuesday night, according to authorities.
The two were found just before 8 p.m. Tuesday inside the building in the 3900 block of West Ainslie Street, with a car running inside an attached garage, according to authorities. The Fire Department found carbon monoxide levels in the home of 140 parts per million, just below the level that is known to kill people if they breathe it for prolonged periods.
The Chicago Police Department confirmed the man who died, 36, was an off-duty police officer. The woman, 29, remained in critical but stable condition as of midday Wednesday after being taken to Swedish Hospital for treatment, according to police.
An autopsy to determine the cause and manner of the officer’s death was conducted Wednesday but was inconclusive and was pending additional studies, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
It wasn’t clear whether the man and woman are related or how officers came to find the two in the building. Officer Jessica Rocco said the woman is neither a police officer nor a probationary police officer with Chicago police.
Chicago police wouldn’t comment on the circumstances of the two becoming ill.
The officer, a 22-month veteran assigned to the Rogers Park District, earned a Crime Reduction Award and an honorable mention during his police career.
Detectives were investigating.