Daniel J. Doffyn was a 40-year-old probationary patrolman with the Chicago Police Department when he was shot and killed on March 8, 1995, while responding to a reported burglary at a three-story apartment building at 754 North Lorel Avenue, across from the Austin District station. Doffyn and his partner, Patrolman Robert Podkowa, encountered three suspects who had broken into the apartment after earlier shooting a rival gang member. Doffyn ran to a gangway and caught one suspect as another, armed with a Tec-9 automatic handgun, fired and struck him twice in areas not covered by his vest. He died five hours later during surgery at Cook County Hospital.

The case produced extensive legal proceedings: the shooter was initially sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to life in prison when Governor George H. Ryan imposed a moratorium and commuted death row sentences; the Illinois Supreme Court ordered new trials for two men convicted in connection with Doffyn’s murder, citing problems with the prosecution’s display of his bloodstained uniform at trial. Doffyn’s death prompted renewed attention to officer safety and the handling of violent crime in Chicago.

If anyone has information about the incident or knew Officer Doffyn and the events that night, please share what is known.