Two brothers are facing felony charges after a traffic stop Saturday night in West Englewood ended in tragedy, with Chicago police Officer Ella French fatally shot and her partner badly wounded.
Emonte Morgan, 21, was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police and prosecutors announced Monday afternoon. His brother, Eric Morgan, 22, faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as well as one count of obstructing justice. They are expected to appear for bond hearings in Cook County court on Tuesday.
The Chicago brothers have little in the way of serious criminal backgrounds, though both were on probation for separate cases at the time of the shooting. Emonte Morgan pleaded guilty to robbery in Cook County court last year, and Eric Morgan pleaded guilty to theft in Dane County, Wisconsin, records show.
Separately, federal prosecutors have charged Jamel Danzy, an Indiana man who allegedly told investigators he was in a relationship with one of the brothers, with straw-purchasing the gun that was ultimately used to kill French. Danzy turned it over to one of the brothers shortly after buying it under false pretenses, a criminal complaint alleges.
‘God took the wrong kid.’ Brother of slain officer Ella French speaks about younger sister; second cop fighting for his life ？
French, 29, had worked as a Chicago police officer since April 2018. She was the first Chicago cop to be shot and killed in the line of duty since Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019, and the first since police Superintendent David Brown began leading the city’s police force last year.
French’s partner, a Chicago police officer since August 2014, remained hospitalized at the University of Chicago Medical Center on Monday after being shot in the head. He was initially taken to the hospital in serious-to-critical condition, though there’s been no update to his condition since the weekend.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday where the charges were announced, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said the wounded officer who survived is “incrementally improving from Saturday night’s tragic events.”
“I think that the people of Chicago need to…pray, not only for the recovery of our officer who is fighting for his life, but also pray that these officers will be encouraged to risk their lives for each other and everyone of us,” Brown said, lamenting what he called low support for the police from the public and the media.
He said the suspects’ vehicle was curbed because of “expired plates,” but investigators haven’t yet established a motive for the shooting. Brown also said the woman who was with the Morgan brothers was not charged with anything because there was no evidence against her.
The Saturday shooting happened just after 9 p.m. near West 63rd Street and South Bell Avenue when the officers conducted a traffic stop on three people in a vehicle, authorities said.
Investigators have been using body-worn camera footage to piece together the sequence of events that led up to the shooting, sources have said.
Indiana man charged with making straw purchase of gun used in weekend’s fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer ？
Footage shows the occupants were out or in the process of being taken out of the vehicle when the driver ran, leading one officer to chase and apprehend him nearby, the sources said.
The second suspect — who was allegedly armed with a handgun — pulled away from French and made a move back toward the inside of the vehicle. As the officers tried to apprehend him, he allegedly fired the gun, striking both officers, sources said.
Over the weekend, Brown said a total of 38 Chicago police officers have been shot at or shot so far in 2021, 11 of whom had been struck by gunfire. The 11 includes French and her partner. For all of 2020, 79 Chicago cops were shot at or shot.
The officers were taken to the U. of C. Medical Center while the wounded suspect was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. He and one other male suspect were arrested, while a 21-year-old woman was taken into custody hours later, police officials said.
French and her partner were members of the community safety team, a citywide unit formed last summer under Brown to respond to crime hot spots.
Prior to Saturday night, the last line-of-duty deaths of Chicago cops who were killed while pursuing a suspect were in December 2018, when Officers Eduardo Marmolejo and Conrad Gary were fatally struck by a train as they looked for a man wanted for illegally possessing a gun. That suspect, Edward Brown, was sentenced earlier this year to one year in prison for a felony weapon violation in the case.
Also, before Saturday night, the last female Chicago cop to be shot and killed in the line of duty was Irma Ruiz, who died in September 1988 when she was shot inside an elementary school on the Near West Side.
In the French shooting, records showed that Danzy bought the gun in March from a licensed dealer in Hammond, Ind., where he claimed to be buying the weapon for himself, according to the federal complaint filed Monday.
ATF agents on Sunday tracked down Danzy at the restaurant where he works, and he agreed to be interviewed on tape in an agent’s car in the parking lot.
Agents showed him the paperwork from the dealer, and at first, he claimed to have bought the gun for himself, the complaint states. But “after further questioning,” he admitted he instead had bought it for someone in Chicago, Individual A, who had a felony record and could not buy a gun for himself.
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