Suspect charged in Bensenville police officer's shooting

A Bensenville police officer was shot multiple times by a suspect involved in a domestic disturbance early Saturday, authorities and his family said.

The officer, an eight-year veteran of the police department, was among the first to respond to an apartment complex on the 100 block of South York Road just before 1 a.m.

Kiante J. Tyler, 21, of Bensenville has been charged with first-degree attempted murder, according to DuPage County court records. The charge alleges he fired a gun 10 times, striking officer Steven Kotlewski six times.

Tyler is also charged with three counts of aggravated battery. In two, he is accused of punching two detectives in their faces.

Tyler will appear at a bond hearing at 8 a.m. Sunday, according to Paul Darrah, spokesman for the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

Police Chief Dan Schulze said Kotlewski's weapon was holstered at the time of the shooting.

Dave Stachura, Kotlewski's father-in-law, said late Saturday afternoon that the officer was about to go in for another round of surgery at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where Kotlewski was taken because it's a Level 1 trauma center.

Kotlewski already underwent eight hours of surgery Saturday morning, after sustaining several gunshot wounds, including four in one leg and two in the other, Stachura said.

One gunshot struck Kotlewski's vest, and another was under his vest in the back, he said.

But Kotlewski was conscious, and after he was intubated, he communicated with medical staff and family by writing on a piece of paper, Stachura said.

"He's a lucky boy," Stachura said. "He's got a lot of rehab ahead of him."

The father-in-law said fellow officers applied tourniquets to Kotlewski's legs and drove him in a squad car to the nearby Bensenville fire station, where an ambulance then took Kotlewski to the Maywood hospital.

"If they didn't put tourniquets on them, he'd have died," Stachura said.

Family members, including the officer's wife, are "shocked," Stachura said. The couple has three children between 2 and 8 years old.

"The kids don't even know," Stachura said. "They're all young."

Stachura said Kotlewski has worked for the Bensenville force for about eight years after an earlier stint in Norridge. He is about 40 years old.

Bensenville police said there were no other injuries related to the domestic disturbance, and there is no danger to the public following the incident.

• Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.