Superintendent James J. Riordan, 57, was shot and killed on June 6, 1981, while off-duty at the Marina City Restaurant in Chicago. Riordan, the First Deputy Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department who had served 34 years, intervened when he saw a man harassing a woman with a switchblade. As Riordan escorted the man out, the suspect, Leon Washington, produced a .380 caliber handgun and fired multiple times into Riordan’s chest. Riordan was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, underwent surgery, and was pronounced dead at 11:54 p.m.

Washington, a former police officer from Davenport, Iowa, was arrested at the scene; witnesses described him as someone who often carried weapons in bars. Mayor Jane Byrne visited Riordan at the hospital as he was being taken into surgery. Riordan was survived by his wife and seven children, five of whom later became police officers. Washington was charged with murder and later convicted; in December 1981 he received a 35-year sentence. Riordan’s widow, Lorretta, filed a $30 million damage suit against Washington, the restaurant management company, and the gun distributor.

Did anyone who knew Riordan or was at Marina City that night notice anything about the suspect’s behavior before the confrontation?