Elmer Brown / Photo from Chicago Police
Police are offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information about two people who shot retired Chicago Police sergeant Elmer Brown during a home invasion earlier this month, leading to his death two weeks later.
On March 10, at about 11:45 p.m., the 73-year-old Brown was shot when two people forced their way into his home near 115th Street and Avenue G, police said.
Mary Ann Brown, his wife, told the Sun-Times the men wore hooded sweatshirts drawn tightly around their faces. One of the men shot Elmer Brown after the two asked about a safe in the home, she said.
After 10 minutes of the men ransacking the home, they ran out the house, seemingly empty-handed, she said.
Brown was pronounced dead at 3:22 a.m. Monday at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
An autopsy Tuesday found Brown died of complications from a gunshot wound to the face, and listed coronary artery disease and renal failure as secondary causes, the medical examiner’s office said. His death was ruled a homicide.
Police on Friday announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to the offenders’ arrests.
“He was a wonderful father and husband,” Mary Ann Brown said.
Holding back tears, she said her husband — a policeman for 38 years who was legally blind and suffered from diabetes — had been unable to communicate in any way since the attack at the couple’s home.
“He was completely out of it,” Brown said. “He was heavily sedated because of where his wounds were.”
No one is in custody as Area South detectives investigate. Anyone with information should call detectives at (312) 747-8272.
— Sun-Times Media Wire