CHICAGO — A suspect has been charged with two firearm crimes in the case that led to the deaths Monday of two Chicago police officers hit by a South Shore commuter train.
Edward Brown was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm, the Chicago Tribune reports. He told police he found a pistol in an alley near his home and fired it to see if it worked. That led to the shots-fired call that brought police officers Eduard Marmolejo and Conrad Gary to the scene; they were struck by the train while pursuing a suspect along the tracks at the 103rd Avenue station on the Metra Electric line. [See “Chicago police officers, pursuing suspect, killed when struck by train,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 18, 2018.]
Video recovered from one officer’s body camera shows a northbound Metra train was approaching as they walked along the tracks, so they stayed on the southbound tracks, unaware the second train was approaching.
Mister Smith:
I have seen some real knuckle-draggers in law enforcement. Most cops are intelligent and decent but every once in a while I run across one that has to be treated very carefully…runs on reflex not intelligence, easily set off, armed and volatile.
Any experienced cop knows or should know that a rail line is a dangerous place, and you should expect traffic at any time, without warning, and from either direction.
But, under many felony murder statutes, if anyone for any reason is killed during a crime, no matter how peripherally involved, and whether or not they contributed to or even outright caused their own demise, the criminal or criminals can be prosecuted for homicide.
If you are a pretty woman jaywalking and a motorist is paying attention to you and not the road and runs down a kindergarten class, there is basis for charging you with the homicides…as murder one, not just manslaughter. Whether or not this is right is not for me to say. But is is a possible interpretation of the law.
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis of an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.
Obviously we don’t know all the gritty details, but I’m really trying to understand why two presumably trained police officers were walking inside the gauge. I figured they’d know better.
These charges (which in and of themselves are fairly minor) might be the least of his problems. Two police officers were killed during this incident. Depending on if there is and how it is worded a felony murder statute in Illinois he might be up for two counts of homicide of a police officer.
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis of an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.