CHICAGO (CBS) – Friends and neighbors are remembering a Southwest Side couple who died yesterday in a murder-suicide; both of them law enforcement officers.
WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, authorities believe it was the husband who pulled the trigger.
“They were both good people. That’s all I’m going to say. They were both good people and it’s very, very sad,” said a woman who lives next door to the Acevedo family.
Veronica Rizzo-Acevedo was an 18-year veteran Chicago police officer. Her husband, Javier Acevedo, was a 25-year veteran Cook County corrections officer.
Rev. Ed Cronin, the pastor at St. Jane de Chantal Catholic Church, said he was counseling the Acevedos about the violence they encountered in their jobs.
“I ask people to take seriously the call to pray for these law enforcement people. We just don’t know all that they have to deal with every day,” he said. “Some of them just snap in the midst of it. Amidst probably some other personal struggle they may have in their lives.”
Cronin said the Acevedos didn’t seem any more affected by violence than any other officers he counsels.
“At least they didn’t come across that way to me. I was just glad they were talking about it and trying to seek counsel,” he said.
Cronin said he saw the Acevedos just last week at mass, and they seemed fine.
“All it takes is one argument, one moment, to snap. And everybody has their breaking point, I guess,” he said.
The Cook County Sheriff’s office said Javier Acevedo had been under investigation for a road rage incident.
