EDGEWATER — Police officers, family members and other mourners crowded the streets of Edgewater on Friday for the funeral of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew, turning Sheridan Road into a sea of dress blues as the city honored the 10-year veteran killed while on duty last month.
By 9 a.m., streets surrounding St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church, 5649 N. Sheridan Road, were closed to traffic as hundreds of officers from departments across the Chicago area gathered outside the church.
Uniformed officers stood in rank-and-file lines along Sheridan Road and spilled onto surrounding side streets as mourners quietly gathered to catch a glimpse of the procession.
A Chicago Fire Department ladder truck suspended a large American flag above an intersection near the church while the sound of traditional bagpipes and snare drums echoed through the neighborhood.
Some neighbors watched the funeral procession from nearby sidewalks, while others viewed the service on a screen outside the church. Officers mingled on the church lawn before the funeral began, handing out buttons with Bartholomew’s photo on it.
A button is worn in memory of slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew before his funeral at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
CPD Officer Mendoza holds his daughter before the funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
The funeral comes nearly two weeks after Bartholomew, 38, was fatally shot while guarding a robbery suspect at Swedish Hospital in Lincoln Square.
Authorities said Bartholomew and another officer transported robbery suspect Alphanso Talley to the hospital April 25 after he claimed to have swallowed narcotics. Prosecutors said Talley pulled a hidden handgun from beneath a blanket while preparing for a CT scan and opened fire on the officers before briefly escaping custody.
Neither police nor prosecutors have disclosed how Talley was able to get the gun into the hospital.
Bartholomew, assigned to the Albany Park (17th) District, died from a gunshot wound to the head. A second officer, a 21-year veteran of the department, was critically wounded and remains hospitalized.
During the funeral, Police Superintendent Larry Snelling remembered Bartholomew as a dedicated officer who “walked like a seasoned veteran” and deeply loved both policing and his family.
CPD Supt. Larry Snelling, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Police brass look on before the funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
“People have described John in multiple ways. He was a cop’s cop,” Snelling said during the service. “He was proud, strong. He loved his job, and most importantly, he was a family man who always talked about his family.”
Bartholomew’s brother, James, also addressed mourners inside the packed church, remembering the slain officer as more than a sibling.
“He wasn’t only my brother, he was my best friend,” James Bartholomew said. “Now he’s gone.”
The funeral service lasted more than an hour and a half, with Snelling, James Bartholomew and police commanders Jesse Alvarez and Alison Christian all giving remarks.
Following the service, a bagpipe player left the church about 12:10 p.m., leading the pallbearers carrying Bartholomew’s casket down the steps of the church.
Snelling and Mayor Brandon Johnson shared a private moment with the family as Snelling handed John’s wife, Renee, a folded Chicago flag following the funeral.
“I know these officers, I trained most of them,” Snelling said after the service to a group of reporters. “It’s like losing a relative. It’s something that I deal with, and that’s the same thing as his fellow officers.”
Johnson asked Chicagoans to continue praying for the Bartholomew family and Officer Nelson Crespo, who remains hospitalized after the shooting.
“This is obviously a very somber and difficult day for his family, for the department and for the people of Chicago,” Johnson said. “We will continue to pray for Officer Crespo as he makes an incredible recovery. Although we are grieving as a city, as a department and as a family, our resolve to make sure our officers continue showing up every single day on behalf of the people of Chicago, to build safe communities, that mission will continue.”
Chicago Police and loved ones line up before the funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Chicago Police honor guard are seen reflected in a car door before the funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Chicago Police officers line up following the funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Pallbearers fold the Chicago flag over the casket of slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew following his funeral at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Family grieves as pallbearers carry of slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew following his funeral at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Chicago Police officers stand on Hollywood Avenue following the funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater on May 8, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
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