Dell Otis Fountain was a 40-year-old Chicago Police Department officer who died after being shot on March 22, 1996, at his apartment building at 3934 West Van Buren Street in Chicago. He had served nearly three years on the force. The evening of the shooting began when his 16-year-old son, Dell Woodard, was harassed and denied entry to the building by Tajuan Murray, a 27-year-old guest of an upstairs tenant; Murray had allegedly harassed Woodard before, and an earlier confrontation at the same apartment involved another guest who was found with a rifle and arrested after Officer Fountain reported it to police. Responding to his son’s harassment, Officer Fountain left his apartment armed to confront Murray; a struggle occurred as Murray headed upstairs, the weapon discharged, and Fountain was shot in the upper right leg, severing a major artery.

He was taken to Cook County Hospital and died that evening from severe blood loss. Tajuan Murray was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Officer Fountain was survived by his son, daughter, parents, and seven siblings; his funeral was held at Salem Baptist Church and he was buried in Goshen Cemetery in Belzoni, Mississippi.

Does anyone have additional information about the confrontation inside the building or knew Officer Fountain and his family?