Pubdate: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Section: Metro Chicago Contact: http://chicago.tribune.com Author: Amanda Beeler and Doug Irving COP DIES WEEK AFTER BEING SHOT ON STAKEOUT A week after he was shot while on drug-surveillance duty, Chicago Police Officer Michael Ceriale died Friday night in Cook County Hospital. Ceriale had been in critical condition since he was shot just below his bulletproof vest last Saturday while watching drug deals at a high-rise at 4101 S. Federal St. During attempts to save him, doctors used more than 200 pints of blood during five surgeries--or about 20 times the amount circulating in an average adult. Friends and police officers donated blood for Ceriale. They also took turns visiting his family or spending the night at the hospital. That vigil ended at about 8:15 p.m., when Ceriale's father called those who were present into a tight circle to let them know the 26-year-old officer had died. Afterward, some clustered near the entrance to the emergency room. Others quietly got in their cars and drove away while dabbing at tears. Ceriale, who had been with the force for 15 months, became the first Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty this year. He was not removed from life support systems, Police Department spokesman Pat Camden said. Police Supt. Terry Hillard issued a bulletin over police radios at about 8:30 p.m. "It is with a very saddened heart that I must inform you that Officer Michael A. Ceriale has lost his fight for life," Camden read from Hillard's statement. Ceriale will be buried early next week with full honors, Camden said. Officers at the Wentworth District, where Ceriale worked, heard the news from officers who had been assigned to his family, District Sgt. Tim Smith said. "They're devastated, to say the least, to lose one of their own," Smith said. "It's pretty quiet over here. . . . Work will go on; it has to go on. But he's in all our thoughts right now." Three people have been charged with attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with the shooting. Prosecutors have said those charges will almost certainly be upgraded to murder following Ceriale's death. - ---