Fiancée of Chicago police officer paralyzed in shooting: 'I just want answers'
Casey Szaflarski pleads with city leadership in Chicago crime
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The fiancée of a Chicago police officer who was paralyzed from the waist down in a shooting pleaded for answers Thursday on "The Story."
"I just want answers," Casey Szaflarski said of the shooting that saw her fiancé and officer Daniel Golden shot in the center of his back and permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Golden was assisting in breaking up a bar fight in Chicago early Saturday when he was shot. He was off-duty at the time.
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At least 19 shots were fired in the shooting in a city that has been plagued by violent crime. Such crime "was a breaking news crisis that should have been addressed," Szaflarski said, adding that she is not attacking Chicago leadership "in any way, shape or form."
"We just want us to come together at this point, because this city is getting to a point where it is no longer safe, and we need to work together. Fighting each other, attacking each other, going against each other is not the solution. In order to do this, we need to communicate with each other."
While Golden's fiancée upbraided city leadership, his cousin, Jack Gorman, praised his Chicago neighborhood for the support his family has received.
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A children's lemonade stand raised more than $13,000 to aid in paying for Golden's medical care. Gorman dubbed it a "small drop in the bucket of the pool of love" the family has felt.
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The neighborhood support has been "incredible."
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"It really goes to show that Chicago is a wonderful place when it needs to be," Gorman said, adding that his family is "proud" to be from Chicago's south side.
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Officer Golden remained in an intensive care unit Thursday, having had a chest tube removed from the right side of his body earlier in the day.