Two brothers charged over murder of Chicago police officer Ella French, 29, who was shot dead during traffic stop
TWO brothers have been charged over the murder of gunned-down Chicago cop Ella French.
She was killed on August 8 after exchanging gunfire with the suspects during a traffic stop the previous night.
Two suspects have been charged following her death.
Emonte Morgan, 21, was charged with first-degree murder of a police officer, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
His 22-year-old brother, Eric Morgan, was also hit with charges.
Eric was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.
Emonte and Eric are due in court for a bail hearing on August 10.
An officer is said to be fighting for his life after he was shot in the head twice.
The killing saw some officers turn their back on Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot as cops gathered for a vigil, according to the MailOnline.
'NO CONFIDENCE'
John Catanzara, president of the Chicago police union, told the Sun-Times that officers turning their backs was an "excellent example" as he said cops do not support the mayor's leadership.
Before the vigil, Lightfoot reportedly came up to the dad of the injured officer who allegedly screamed and blamed the mayor for the shooting.
A spokesperson told the outlet that it’s “expected” that emotions ran high during a tragedy.
Lightfoot reportedly proposed cutting around $80million from the Chicago police budget as protesters across America called for police departments to be defunded.
She criticized the defund movement but the Chicago police union issued a vote of no confidence in the mayor.
She told residents Sunday: “The police are not enemies. We must come together. We have a common enemy. It’s the guns and the gangs.”
French and her fellow officer carried out a traffic stop at around 9pm on August 7 in West Englewood.
Two men and a woman were traveling in the car, police said.
A person inside the vehicle, suspected to be Emonte, opened fire on the police officers during the stop as cops exchanged shots.
Police said Emonte got into a physical altercation with both cops before the deadly shooting.
Supt. David Brown insisted that "there's one reason why this happened."
He said: "This person killed her and tried to kill other officers... They need to be fully held accountable for her murder."
French was the first Chicago police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty since Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019.
'WEEKEND OF BLOODSHED'
French’s death came as another weekend of bloodshed hit Chicago.
Statistics show that there have been more than 1,000 shootings on the city’s streets in the last six years.
The cop’s death was one of 11 recorded after a security guard, 40, was shot dead for reportedly refusing his attacker entry to a club, ABC7 reports.
A 37-year-old man was shot twice in the neck and three times in the back; later a man, 25, was hit three times in the stomach and died.
Then, in the early hours of Sunday, a man, 47, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his car.
A total of 73 people were shot over the weekend including 16 in three mass shootings.
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Violence plagued Chicago’s streets last week as a four-year-old girl was fatally killed after another child found a gun inside a home and the weapon accidentally discharged, according to cops.
Up until last weekend, just two men had been convicted in connection with one of the 212 mass shooting incidents since 2016, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
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There had been just one person charged over one of 39 mass shootings in the city this year, the outlet added.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that French was a mother to a newborn baby. This story has been corrected to reflect that French was not married and had no children.
