Two brothers accused of killing Chicago officer by gunshot



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CHICAGO – Two Chicago brothers have been charged in a weekend shootout at a traffic stop that left one dead and another seriously injured, the Chicago Police Department said in a press release Monday.

Emonte Morgan, 21, is charged with first degree murder in Saturday’s fatal shooting of 29-year-old officer Ella French, as well as attempted murder and other charges. Eric Morgan, 22, faces charges of aggravated illegal use of a weapon, illegal use of a weapon by a criminal and obstruction of justice.

They and a woman were in a vehicle stopped by police in south Chicago on Saturday night when gunfire erupted. The one-page statement did not offer any details as to why the vehicle was stopped or what happened before the shooting began.

Officers had stopped a vehicle on Saturday with two men and a woman inside just after 9 p.m. when a passenger opened fire, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said on Sunday. Officers fired back, hitting the passenger who appeared to be shooting at them, Brown said.

The brothers are scheduled to appear in a Cook County bond court Tuesday.

Earlier Monday, federal prosecutors accused an Indiana man of purchasing and then illegally supplying the semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting, the first in which an officer died from a blow. of fire in the performance of his duties in nearly three years.

A Chicago police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop on August 7, 2021.
A Chicago police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop on August 7, 2021.

Jamel Danzy, 29, is accused of buying the gun from a licensed arms dealer in Hammond, Indiana, in March and then supplying it to an Illinois resident Danzy knew was ‘he could neither buy nor own weapons because of a felony conviction.

The person who received it was in a vehicle from which someone shot at the police on Saturday night during a traffic stop and the same gun was recovered from the person by police officers who took it. arrested, a statement from the Chicago Attorney’s Office said, which did not identify the person. name.

French’s death was the first fatal bullet from a Chicago officer in the line of duty since 2018 and the first female officer to be shot on the job in 33 years. The Chicago Police Department Facebook page said on Sunday that French’s injured partner remained “in hospital, fighting for his life.”

Danzy, of Hammond, first appeared in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Monday afternoon for conspiring to violate federal gun laws, including knowingly transferring a firearm to a resident out of state and knowingly disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon. Conviction for conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

US Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert has ordered Danzy to be held at least until a detention hearing on Wednesday.

Police at the scene where Constable Ella French was shot dead in Chicago on August 7, 2021.
Police at the scene where Officer Ella French was shot and killed in Chicago on August 7, 2021.
Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune via AP
Chicago police officers waving to an ambulance carrying Ella French's body arrived at the Cook County medical examiner on August 8, 2021.
Chicago police officers waving to an ambulance carrying Ella French’s body arrived at the Cook County medical examiner on August 8, 2021.
Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune via AP

Chicago has for years sought to stem the influx of guns that has helped fuel the city’s still-high homicide rates, especially in neighboring states like Indiana, where gun rules are not that strict.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office highlighted how the Justice Department has made eradicating gun trafficking a high priority.

“Straw buyers and gun dealers allow violence with deadly consequences,” US Attorney John Lausch said in a statement.

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