Tim Jones, a Park Forest police officer and the son of the Country Club Hills Police chief William Jones, died Wednesday, nearly 10 years after he was shot multiple times in a nearly deadly confrontation with an intruder in a vacant house.
Jones, then 24, and a member of the Police Department for less than one year, suffered bullet wounds to his head and his neck during an exchange of gunfire in which the trespasser, Thurman Reynolds, was killed.
Jones survived after undergoing numerous surgeries before leaving a rehab facility more than one year after the shooting.
The announcement of his death was made in an online posting Thursday morning by Park Forest police Chief Brian Rzyski who wrote that “while our hearts are broken we remain incredibly proud of the fight he gave.”
Rzyski wrote funeral arrangements were not finalized but will be shared with the community when announced.
The saga of Tim Jones almost defies belief.
Almost immediately after the shooting, Jones was flown to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn where he was put in a coma to relieve swelling on the brain; a condition for which doctors told the family that there was little or no hope. William Jones said one doctor told them he had “never seen anyone wake up from something like this” and another opined that the odds of winning the Powerball were better than Tim living one more day.
Yet Tim Jones clung to life. Day by day, one operation after another, he gradually gained strength. After one more operation around Easter of that year, William Jones said his son’s eyes were open.
“They were staring and blinking at me,” he said.
Less than a week after the shooting, thousands of citizens and police officers jammed into a Matteson restaurant for a fundraiser for the family. For more than four hours, a long line ran from the front door to the street.
Perhaps more than 100 Tim Jones T-shirts, emblazoned with his badge number, 204, were sold in a show of community support.
The Police Department never lost sight of Jones. In 2021, he was “promoted” to detective, and a Tim Jones street sign was hung from a light pole on Indianwood Boulevard, adjacent to Park Forest Police Department. A police car with his badge number emblazoned on it is part of the fleet while his police locker and desk carry his name and badge number and are symbolic honors.
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.