Two police officers hit and killed by train while chasing shooting suspect in Chicago

Chicago police investigate the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck by a train on Monday.
AP
Bonnie Christian18 December 2018

Two Chicago police officers have died after being struck by a train while they were chasing a gunman.

Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, were called to investigate a report of gunshots on the city’s far South Side on Monday evening.

They were pursuing a person who had headed towards the train tracks and while they were searching the area shortly after 6pm, a train passed through, hitting the two officers, police said.

"There was no stop at that location so the train was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour," police superintendent Eddie Johnson said.

Passengers sit on a train while police officers work the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck by a train.
AP

A suspect was taken into custody and a gun was recovered, he said.

"It just highlights again how dangerous this job can be. I often say that the most dangerous thing a police officer can do is take a weapon off of an armed individual," Mr Johnson said.

Mr Gary had joined the force 18 months ago and Mr Marmolejo had joined two-and-a-half years ago. Both men had young families.

"There are no words that can express the grief, the sense of loss. It just knocks you back on your heels," Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

"I think it's really important that we put our arms around the Chicago Police Department and hold them up and support them at this critical juncture, because we are so dependent on their professionalism and their sense of duty," he added.

The train that struck the officers was operated by a commuter rail line that links northern Indiana and Chicago, according to media reports.

In 2002, Chicago police officer Benjamin Perez was fatally struck by a commuter train while conducting surveillance on narcotics activity on the city's West Side.

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