Chicago P.D. officially wrote off Kevin Atwater after LaRoyce Hawkins‘ shocking exit — but how did the OG character’s story wrap up?
During the Wednesday, October 14, episode of the hit NBC show, Atwater celebrated the first weeks of fatherhood. The experience made him ask Voight (Jason Beghe) for a promotion when he returned to work, which seemed to be in the cards. After a tough day on the job where Atwater was shot — and his son Malcolm was taken to the hospital for an ear infection — he instead chose to take a job in Atlanta and focus on his family.
Hawkins, 38, is leaving Chicago P.D. after 13 seasons as a series regular. The actor is one of many cast exits the franchise has had to deal with over the years.
Ahead of Season 13, Toya Turner left Chicago P.D. after one season. Hawkins’ costars Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos also recently exited the show — but returned for a crossover special with Chicago Med and Chicago Fire.
Over at Chicago Fire, showrunner Andrea Newman exited the show after more than a decade. Newman, who has worked on the NBC series for its entire 14-season run, left and co-executive producer Victor Teran took over the role.
Newman joined Chicago Fire after the pilot as co-executive producer before being promoted to executive producer then co-showrunner. She became sole showrunner in 2023.
“Working at Chicago Fire, with the absolute best cast and crew in the business, has been the highlight of my career,” Newman said in an April statement. “Like so many others, I was inspired to get into TV writing because of Dick, so what a thrill it’s been to work with him and the amazing Wolf team of Peter Jankowski, Rebecca McGill and Anastasia Puglisi. I’m so grateful to them, Derek Haas and the NBC and Universal execs who have been so supportive of the show all along the way. After 14 years, you really do become a family and working with this group will always feel like home.”
Jankowski, meanwhile, released a separate statement, which read, “We’re sad to say goodbye to Andrea. She’s been at the center of the heart and soul of Chicago Fire since the beginning and the show thrived under her watch. We’re grateful for her commitment to the development of the next generation and know the show will be in great hands with Victor taking the reins.”
NBC’s president of program planning Jeff Bader has previously addressed the way Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. have often lost fan-favorite characters.
“Cast comes in, cast goes out,” Bader told TVLine in July 2024. “It’s interesting, because every year there are cast changes, and every year someone asks the same question about what’s going on within the One Chicago universe. But [those shows] just keep going on.”
Bader noted that each of the Chicago shows have continued to find success, adding, “We’re thrilled with how the One Chicago universe does on Wednesday. We have no plans on changing anything on that night.”
Chicago P.D. airs on NBC Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
