'He loves being a trooper and he'll never quit being a trooper'

It's the sort of thing any family never wants to go through: their child being injured, close to death.

Kris and Jim Green endured that agony for the past week as their son, Dakotah "Kody" Chapman-Green, lay in a hospital bed recovering from being shot while on duty as an Illinois State Police trooper. Thankfully, they said during a Tuesday press conference in front of ISP headquarters in Springfield, they found comfort in the support from the hospital staff and law enforcement agents who have visited their son.

"You know the saying, 'God is good?'" Kris Green said. "No, He is great. From the time I got to the hospital, everyone on the staff, all the police officers in all of the different agencies were just absolutely amazing to me."

Even better is the news that their son is recovering, after he was shot and wounded by a Chicago homicide suspect during a traffic stop in the 1600 block of Toronto Road last Tuesday.

ISP released dash cam footage from the trooper's vehicle showing him stopping a white Honda at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Toronto late on Oct. 24. About 1:40 into the video, the driver, later identified as Cristobal Santana, 37, of Chicago, exits the vehicle, dressed in a black hoodie and Chicago White Sox cap.

The video shows Santana firing several shots, then going after Chapman-Green before returning to the vehicle and driving away. In total, police said Santana fired 10 shots, including two that hit the trooper in the legs, then proceeded to beat Chapman-Green with the firearm, causing skull and facial fractures and a brain bleed.

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Santana was eventually captured after a three-hour pursuit that included help from the Springfield Police Department and the University of Illinois Springfield Police. He remains hospitalized but was charged late last week with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery, and another count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Dwayne Gab approved a request Friday to detain Santana in Sangamon County on the charges. Santana is also the suspect in a homicide involving a special education teacher in Chicago on Oct. 22 in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood. He has not been charged in that case.

Standing in front of fellow ISP troopers, SPD Chief Ken Scarlette, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, UIS Police Chief Ross Owens, Sangamon County State's Attorney Dan Wright, and Springfield Fire Chief Ed Canny, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said Chapman-Green's condition was improving and credited the work of other law enforcement agents to ensure that he survived his injuries.

"Police officers across the state take an oath to protect the lives of Illinois citizens and too often that means facing diabolical, hateful, vicious evil that no innocent human being should ever have to face," Kelly said. "We live in a free country, but there is no freedom without the law, there is no law without law enforcement, and there is no law enforcement without brave souls like Trooper Chapman-Green and those standing here with me today willing to do this noble, but dangerous work."

Kelly visited Chapman-Green earlier Tuesday and said that he remains in good spirits.

"He looked a lot better than he did last week," Kelly said. "He had a smile on his face and, no doubt, he's got the heart of a Trooper."

That role as a trooper, helping to protect and serve the people of Illinois, was something that his mother said Chapman-Green wanted to be from an early age.

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"He built his resume to get there," Kris Green said. "Right before he got into the academy and got accepted, we had a conversation and I asked him if he still wanted to go through with this, being that laws are changing and how the world is today. He looked at me and he said, 'Mom, I still feel like I can make a difference,' and buddy, you are going to make a difference."

His father, Jim Green, thanked everyone for all of the thoughts and prayers sent their way over the past week and said that the shooting wasn't going to slow his son down.

"He loves being a trooper and he'll never quit being a trooper," his father said. "He has one speed, and that's go."

Maddy Kinsel, Chapman-Green's fiance, remembered when she was brought into the trauma room the night of the shooting, saying she doubted his recovery would be quick. She said she's thankful many of the worst-case scenarios didn't come to pass.

"As I stand here today with his family and everyone that's standing behind me, I am more than thankful to talk about his miraculous recovery," Kinsel said. "Kody's doing incredibly well. There's no longer conversations about surgeries that are necessary and he's up and talking throughout the day. He still has a long road ahead of him but God was with him that night and protected him from the absolute worst."

Anyone wishing to donate to the Chapman-Green family can do so through the Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation online or via mail at Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation, P.O. Box 2210, Springfield, Illinois 62705-2210. Anyone donating online is asked to denote the "Trooper Chapman-Green Fund" when filing the request.

Contact Zach Roth at (217) 899-4338 or ZDRoth@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: ISP releases dash cam video of trooper shot on Toronto Road