Man Arrested in Connection With Deaths of Two Chicago Police Officers Hit by Train

Chicago Police Officers Eduardo Marmolejo (R) and Conrad Gary (L), were fatally struck by a train as they investigated a report of gunshots on the city's far South Side in Chicago, on Dec. 17, 2018. Chicago Police Department/AP

A 24-year-old Chicago man was charged with two felony weapons violations on Dec. 19, in connection with the deaths of two Chicago police officers who were hit and killed by a speeding commuter train earlier this week.

Officers Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, were investigating a report of gunfire near railroad tracks on the city’s Far South Side on Dec. 17, when they were hit by a southbound train going at least 60 mph, police said.

The two officers, assigned to the Chicago Police Department’s Calumet District, were on foot and on the tracks during rush-hour while pursuing a suspect along the Metra railway line when they were killed, police said.

Passengers sit on a train while police officers work the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck by a train in Chicago on Dec. 17, 2018. E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune via AP

Edward Brown of Chicago, who had been taken into custody earlier this week, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

Brown was in custody at the Cook County Jail and a bond hearing is scheduled for Dec. 20.

It was unclear if Brown had an attorney.

Both Marmolejo, who had served in the department for two-and-a-half years, and Gary, who joined 18 months ago, were fathers of young children, police said.

By Rich McKay