The Chicago Police captain wounded in a deadly Englewood shootout this week was injured while warning his colleagues about the armed Indiana fugitive who had opened fire at the first officers who had arrived on the scene, Cook County prosecutors said Friday.
Capt. Ed Kulbida was taking cover in a vestibule with other officers Tuesday night when he decided to use his police radio to contact assisting units about the danger they could be in if they entered the first-floor apartment where Daniel Brown was holed up, in the 7200 South Lowe Avenue, Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Mack said.
But Kulbida couldn’t get a signal, so he moved away from the building’s vestibule, which was located under a window of the apartment where Brown hid, Mack said.
That’s when Brown allegedly fired his weapon, striking Kulbida in the head and shoulder.
Kulbida’s colleagues dragged him back to safety under the vestibule.
Soon, the officers and Brown were exchanging volleys of gunfire, Mack said.
During the shootout, another Chicago Police officer was hit in the leg by a bullet fragment.
Mack said that officer was not struck by any bullets fired by Brown, 42.
Kulbida, who suffered hearing loss as a result of the shooting, still has bullet fragments lodged his head, Mack said.
The bullet that entered his shoulder was recovered from his back.
Kulbida had arrived on the scene after Brown had fired shots at the police officers who initially tried to enter his apartment building, Mack said.
Members of the Chicago Police Department Fugitive Task Force and U.S. Marshals office, who were looking for Brown to serve him an arrest warrant from Indiana, were tipped off that Brown was at his sister’s first-floor apartment, authorities said.
After six hours and 39-shots, police got inside the apartment at 11:30 p.m.
Once inside they saw that 42-year-old Daniel Jackson, Brown’s sister’s boyfriend, had been killed in the gun battle.
Jackson died from a “close range” single gunshot wound to the chest, Mack said.
Brown, who had a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol, was the only person with Jackson when Jackson was gunned down, but additional ballistics testing is being conducted, Mack said.
The weapon was purchased in Indiana in 2012 and was registered to Brown’s address in Indianapolis.
Brown is a Gulf War veteran who is bipolar and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, assistant public defenders said Friday.
Brown, who appeared in court with his arm in a cast, was ordered held without bail for murder and attempted murder.
Brown first appeared in court on Friday for a brief hearing involving his fugitive arrest warrant in Indiana where he is facing attempted murder, armed robbery auto theft and weapons charges.
Brown is a Chicago Vocational Career Academy grad and was in the Navy, an assistant public defender told Judge Laura Sullivan.
Brown has two previous drug convictions in Indiana and Cook County.
