Woman stabbed to death, off-duty CPD detective suffers gunshot wound on Chicago's Northwest Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman was stabbed and later died, and an off-duty police detective who witnessed the attack suffered a gunshot wound, in the Portage Park neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.
The attacker was also later found dead.
The chain of events started at 2:23 p.m. when an off-duty Chicago Police detective—who is assigned to the Harrison Area on the West Side—witnessed the stabbing of a woman in the 5600 block of West Leland Avenue, near Central Avenue.
The detective intervened and fired shots at the attacker. The detective suffered a graze wound to the leg while trying to stop the attacker, but police did not specify if the attacker had a gun or shot the detective.
"I only heard someone got shot. When I got out of the house, I see a person already being transported to the ambulance," said neighbor Daniel Potoczny, "and I believe I recognized this person. He's my neighbor."
The woman who was stabbed died at the scene, police said. She was identified as Lacramioara Beldie, 54, of the North Park neighborhood.
The detective was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge in good condition.
"I don't know him personally, but I see him a lot jogging in the neighborhood," Potoczny said of the detective.
A neighbor reported seeing the police detective, who loves going on runs through the neighborhood, being put into an ambulance.
Several neighbors said they heard five to six gunshots before swarmed to the scene. A knife was spotted at the scene with an evidence marker nearby.
Police said the suspected attacker escaped, but was later found dead nearby. He was identified as Constantin Beldie, 57, of the Portage Park neighborhood.
Before the suspect was confirmed to be dead, police surrounded a gold Toyota Sienna—also described over police radio as the one the suspect was believed to be driving.
It all happened outside of Shonah Grant's home, where an investigator from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office was present.
"That's horrible. I mean, it's just horrible. It's just such a shame that someone would lose their life, and that someone else who was trying to help would be caught in the crossfire there."
Police have not confirmed how the suspect died. Neither his identity nor that of the woman who was stabbed to death has been released.
It was also unclear late Tuesday whether the police detective has been released from the hospital.
"I thought that something like this would never happen in this neighborhood, but I guess it can happen everywhere," said Potoczny.
The Chicago Police Investigative Response Team and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability are investigating.