Jamel Danzy, Federal Firearm Straw Purchase, Indiana 2024

CHICAGO – A 29-year-old Indiana man has been charged with federal firearm violations in connection with the fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer.

Jamel Danzy, of Hammond, Indiana, allegedly conspired to straw purchase a semi-automatic handgun that was used to shoot two Chicago Police officers last weekend, including the fatal wounding of Officer Ella French.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Danzy purchased the firearm at a federal firearms dealer in Hammond, Indiana, on March 18, 2021, and falsely certified on the required forms that he was the actual buyer.

In reality, Danzy was a straw purchaser who bought the gun at the request of someone whom Danzy knew resided in Chicago, Illinois, and was not lawfully allowed to purchase a firearm due to a felony criminal conviction, the complaint states.

Officer French was shot and killed, and another CPD officer was critically wounded Saturday night during a traffic stop of a vehicle on the South Side of Chicago.

The handgun was used in the shooting, the complaint states. The Illinois resident to whom Danzy gave the gun was one of the vehicle’s occupants and was arrested by responding officers, the complaint states.

“Straw purchasers and firearm traffickers enable violence with deadly consequences,” said John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Danzy is charged with conspiracy to violate federal firearm laws, including knowingly transferring and giving a firearm to an out-of-state resident, knowingly making a false written statement to acquire a firearm, and knowingly disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon.

Danzy made an initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in Chicago and was ordered to remain detained in federal custody.

Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a centerpiece of the cross-jurisdictional strike force aimed at reducing gun violence.

Law enforcement continues to investigate the murder of Officer French and the wounding of the other CPD officer.

The federal conspiracy charge against Danzy is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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