Chicago was in mourning Tuesday after two police officers were hit and killed by a train while investigating gunfire on the city's Far South Side Monday night.
The officers were identified as 36-year-old Eduardo Marmolejo and 31-year-old Conrad Gary, according to police.
The incident took place at around 7 p.m. near East 103rd Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue in the city's Rosemoor neighborhood, officials said.
Police said the officers were both on foot, responding to a call of shots fired, when they were struck by a passing train.
Movement on both the South Shore and Metra train lines was halted for several hours in both directions.
Marmolejo and Gary were working as partners on Monday night and had a combined four years on the force, authorities said. Gary had been with the department for 18 months, while Marmolejo had been with CPD for two-and-a-half years.
Both officers were assigned to CPD's 5th District - Calumet, which covers several Far South Side neighborhoods including Roseland and West Pullman.
The district has "faced tragedy after tragedy this year," Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a news conference Monday night, referring to three other deaths - two suicides and another on-duty death.
Marmolejo and Gary were both married fathers - Gary had one young child and Marmolejo had three children, according to police.
"This holiday will never be the same for those two families," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "Our hearts are with them."
“There are no words that can express the grief and sense of loss—this knocks you back on your heels,” he added.
A procession escorted the officers' bodies to the Cook County medical examiner's office early Tuesday morning, with several members of the Chicago Police and Fire departments paying their respects along the way.
A weapon was recovered from the scene and one person of interest was being questioned in connection with the gunfire that sparked the investigation, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted.
