2 Chicago police officers killed by train while chasing suspect
CHICAGO, Illinois -- The Chicago Police Department is in mourning after two officers were fatally struck by a train while chasing a suspect Monday.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the officers responded to reports of shots fired near train tracks, where they pursued a suspect. While they were investigating, they were struck and killed, Johnson said. The officers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson identified the officers as Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31. Gary is a married father of an infant who has only been on the force for 18 months and Marmolejo is a married father of three young children and has been on the force for two-and-a-half years.
VIDEO: Procession to medical examiner's office for fallen officers
Johnson said 2018 has been an "immensely difficult" year for the Chicago Police Department in terms of officers killed in the line of duty, as well as an uptick in officer suicides. He noted it's been a particularly difficult year for the 5th District, where the officers were assigned.
"Pray for the families of these two heroic young men, pray for the 5th District who, even tonight, will stop at nothing to safeguard the community," he said.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said both men were fathers and had young families, and expressed his condolences to those families in the week before the Christmas holiday.
Police said a suspect was taken into custody and a gun was recovered at the scene.
