Convicted felon charged in slaying of off-duty Cook County sheriff's deputy Rafael Wordlaw

A 32-year-old Chicago man with a lengthy criminal background is accused of gunning down off-duty Cook County sheriff's deputy Rafael D. Wordlaw at a Woodlawn gas station, officials announced Thursday morning.

Cordarrow Thompson was charged with murder, attempted murder, attempted armed robbery, aggravated battery and being an armed habitual criminal, officials said during a morning news conference at Public Safety Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave.

"We honor Deputy Wordlaw by bringing his killer to justice," Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said.

“We want to make sure this individual can't destroy another life or lives. Because even if it’s one life that’s taken, it affects the lives of everyone who knows that individual," Snelling said. "It has a ripple effect.”

Snelling was joined by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and other officials to announce the charges.

Snelling described the shooting as “senseless" and "frustrating," noting that Wordlaw was primed to celebrate his 32nd birthday next week.

“From what I’ve heard and what I’ve learned about Deputy Wordlaw is that he was a dedicated family man, would help anyone that he could, and he was devoted to his job,” Snelling said.

The superintendent said he hoped the swift response by police would “bring the family some level of justice.”

Wordlaw, whose father was a Chicago police officer, was raised by an aunt, attended Urban Prep Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University, his relatives told reporters Tuesday.

Wordlaw was a corrections officer at Division 6 of Cook County Jail, according to a sheriff’s office spokesman. He was hired in February 2020.

Dart said Thursday that Wordlaw aspired to follow in the footsteps of his father, known in the neighborhood as “Officer Friendly.”

“He wanted to be a hero like his dad. Unfortunately, he became a hero and he became a hero because of our guns, the guns that are everywhere,” Dart said. “It is something that we as a society, not Chicago — this country — must come to terms with. How in God's name can we have someone firing off 69 rounds at somebody?”

"This has to stop," Dart said angrily.

The attack unfolded about 1:25 a.m. Tuesday when Wordlaw was sitting in a red Chevrolet Camaro with tinted windows at a gas station in the 500 block of East 67th Street while his friend was at the next pump, police said.

Suddenly, Thompson — who had been circling the station in a vehicle — approached, brandishing a gun in each hand in a robbery attempt, Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti said.

During an ensuing exchange of gunfire, Thompson fired with two weapons and Wordlaw was able to get off a single round that struck Thompson in the leg, Ursitti said.

Sixty-nine rounds were recovered at the scene, according to Ursitti.

Wordlaw, shot in his chest, tried to drive away, but slammed into a pole in the 6700 block of South Indiana Avenue, a few blocks west of the gas station. His friend was grazed in the foot.

Thompson was seen on video falling to the ground while still shooting and then limping away from the scene, “seemingly shot,” according to police reports.

Wordlaw was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m., officials said.

Thompson’s guns haven’t been recovered, but Ursitti said one of them was likely modified to fire automatically.

Foxx described Wordlaw as a hardworking Englewood native who had a “personal mission … to make people feel safe.”

Foxx noted that he was trying to do just that “in the last moments of his life,” when he tried to protect a friend when the shooting erupted.

It was Thompson's gunshot wound that led to his arrest.

He first showed up at Insight Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg, according to an arrest report. He provided a false name and birth date and fled when police showed up.

Police tracked Thompson to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where a nurse told officers that a person who walked in with a gunshot wound was being treated in the trauma unit, the arrest report said.

Thompson had again given hospital staff a bogus name and birth date when he arrived, and he lied to police about the location of the shooting, the report states.

Ursitti said Thompson was taken into custody within three hours of the shooting after using a ride-hailing app to get him from one hospital to the other.

Thompson has an extensive criminal background and is a convicted felon, court records show.

He was most recently found guilty of three felony gun charges during a 2021 bench trial, records show. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with nearly a year already served at Cook County Jail.

Foxx said Thompson was released from prison under supervision early last year. His mandatory supervised release ended in January, Foxx added.

Foxx explained that he didn’t have to serve the full eight-year sentence because Thompson had served half the sentence in jail before his trial and later in prison after he was convicted.

In 2016, Thompson got four years in prison when he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a gun and having a firearm with a defaced serial number.

Thompson has also been convicted of felonies for gun and drug possession and fleeing from police, court records show.