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Chicago Mourns Deaths Of Officers Hit By Oncoming Train During Gunfire Investigation

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The Chicago Police Department held a procession Tuesday honoring two fallen officers after a train struck and killed them Monday night.

Two ambulances carried the bodies of slain officers Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo in an early morning motorcade Tuesday, according to ABC7.

The officers fell in pursuit of a criminal suspect after reports of gunfire, according to ABC7. An oncoming train struck and killed the men, who were both declared dead at the scene.

Gary, who had been with the department for less than two years, leaves behind a wife and an infant. Marmolejo leaves behind a wife and three children, ABC7 reported. Both were members of Chicago’s 5th Police District.

Two crosses were placed at the Chicago Police Department in honor of Gary and Marmolejo, according to ABC7.

“We’ve lost two young men, both fathers, young families,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “This holiday will never be the same for those two families. While our hearts are with them we lost people who answered the call to try and make Chicago a better place.”

Their deaths show “just how dangerous this job can be,” Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson said, according to ABC7.

Johnson added 2018 has been an “immensely difficult” year for Chicago police, noting an increase in officer suicides as well as officers killed in the field, ABC7 reported.

“Pray for the families of these two heroic young men, pray for the 5th District who, even tonight, will stop at nothing to safeguard the community,” Johnson said.

Police apprehended the suspect the officers were pursuing at the time of their deaths. They also recovered a firearm, ABC7 reported.

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