Bail Set At $200K For Man Charged In Connection To Officer Deaths

CHICAGO, IL -- A Cook County judge set bail at $200,000 for a 24-year-old man charged in connection to the line-of-duty deaths of two Chicago police officers earlier this week. Edward Brown, of Chicago, allegedly told police that he found a gun and fired it on the commuter train tracks to see if the gun worked.

The shots fired kicked off a chain of events resulting in the deaths of CPD Officers Conrad Gary, 31, and Eduardo Marmolejo, 36, who rushed to the tracks near 103rd Street and Dauphine after a Shot Spotter picked up gunfire Monday evening. The two officers were walking on the southbound tracks as a northbound commuter train came toward them, unaware that they were in the path of another train behind them. Both were struck and died instantly.

Brown was arrested that same evening as he was coming off the Metra platform. When the arresting officers asked if he was carrying anything illegal, police said Brown admitted that he was carrying a gun. He allegedly told police that he found the gun in an alley, the Chicago Tribune reported.

On Wednesday, Brown was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon, both felonies. He appeared for a bond hearing on Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building.

Marmolejo had 2-and-a-half years on the police force; Gary had just finished an 18-month probationary period. The officers will be laid to rest this weekend.

They are the third and fourth Chicago police officers to die in the line of duty this year. CPD Officer Samuel Jiminez, 28, was killed Nov. 19 in a mass shooting at Mercy Hospital, along with a doctor and pharmacy resident.

On Feb. 13, Commander Paul Bauer was shot in the head was fatally shot while pursuing a suspect at the Thompson Center.