Crime & Law
‘It Was His Calling’: Mourners Gather to Say Goodbye at Funeral for Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew
Video: Chicago police Commander Alison Christian speaks at Officer John Bartholomew’s funeral at St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church on May 8, 2026. (WTTW News)
Chicago police Commander Alison Christian, who spent years working with Officer John Bartholomew in the city’s 24th District, reflected Friday on the “passion he felt for life” and the way he was able to make people feel appreciated on the job.
“He would go into jobs and he would worry about everybody’s feelings,” she said. “He would worry about the victim, the offender, the police officer. At the end of a job that he was on, he made sure that everybody felt good. He just had this overwhelming ability and it was his calling.”
“Everyone that met him loved him,” Christian continued. “We will all be better officers and better people because of John Bartholomew.”
Hundreds of mourners and members of the Chicago Police Department gathered at St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church to remember Bartholomew, a 10-year veteran who was killed last month in a shooting inside Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital.
Bartholomew’s family and colleagues remembered him as a family man and a “cop’s cop” whose humility, gentleness and humor shone throughout his life.
“Your father was a hero,” Supt. Larry Snelling said to Bartholomew’s children Friday. “His legacy will live on, that is why we’re here today.”
Snelling trained Bartholomew, 38, as a police recruit, and though they had few interactions during that time, he saw that as a positive sign.
“If (your name) didn’t come across my desk multiple times, you were doing something right,” Snelling said.
Alphanso Talley, 26, is charged with killing Bartholomew and critically wounding his partner inside the North Side hospital on April 25.
Talley was escorted there by Bartholomew and his partner following his arrest in connection with an armed robbery earlier that day. Talley allegedly told the officers he was having difficulty breathing because he had ingested multiple bags of drugs before he was detained.
At the hospital, Talley’s left arm was handcuffed to a bed railing while his right hand remained free. Surveillance footage shows Talley “fidgeting” his right arm under a blanket that had been placed over him as he was wheeled by the officers and staff to an MRI/CT area in the hospital, prosecutors said.
Once there, Bartholomew uncuffed Talley so he could begin the MRI, at which point Talley allegedly pulled out a concealed 10 mm handgun from under his blanket and opened fire, striking Bartholomew in the head and wounding his partner.
Talley remains detained in Cook County Jail pending trial.
James Bartholomew said he would often speak with his brother about the difficulties and dangers of serving as a Chicago police officer, pointing to the deaths of fellow Officer Ella French and Chicago firefighter Michael Altman.
“He would respond with, ‘That’s the job,’” James Bartholomew said Friday. “‘Sometimes you don’t come back.’”
Following the funeral, several people in Lincoln Square could be seen lined up along Lawrence Avenue to wait for John Bartholomew’s funeral procession. Resident Maria Rodriguez waved a small American flag to pay her respects.
Patty Wetli contributed to this report.
