Chicago Police Department, Illinois
End of Watch Monday, April 14, 1969
Add to My HeroesJames R. Schaffer
Sergeant James Schaffer and Detective Jerome A. Stubig were killed near the beginning of a rampage by a berserk gunman.
Sergeant Schaffer and Detective Stubig were the first to arrive at the scene where two fellow officers had been shot. Six policemen and two civilians were also injured in the six-hour gun battle between a former marine, and hundreds of heavily armed police at 9521 South Exchange Avenue.
The explosion from a bomb thrown at the two officers by the suspect first injured both men. As they laid injured, the suspect emptied his carbine into both men, killing them.
The incident began when two detectives knocked on the suspect’s door and announced they were police officers. They were there to investigate a series of bombings. He answered the knock with gunfire.
The suspect surrendered to Police Superintendent James Rochford at 9:00 p.m. that evening. The bomb squad defused 40 bombs in his home.
Two weeks earlier the 43-year-old suspect set off a bomb in a department store killing a woman and injuring several more shoppers. A week later a bomb exploded in a railroad yard killing a man. The suspect, known as the "South Chicago Bomber", was adjudged insane and sent to Chester Mental Hospital in Menard where he died in 2014.
Sergeant Schaffer was U.S. Army veteran of WWII. His wife and daughter survive him.
Bio
- Age 48
- Tour Not available
- Badge 824
- Military Veteran
Incident Details
- Cause Gunfire
- Weapon Rifle; .32 caliber carbine
- Offender Died in mental hospital
Most Recent Reflection
View all 20 ReflectionsThank you for your service, both military as well as police, and please know that your heroic sacrifice will never, ever be forgotten by your law enforcement brethren. Rest in peace always.
Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police (Retired)
April 14, 2021
Recent LODD Deaths
Sergeant Bill Hooser
Santaquin Police Department, UT
EOW: May 5, 2024
Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks
United States Department of Justice - United States Marshals Service, US
EOW: April 29, 2024
Investigator William "Alden" Elliott
North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, NC
EOW: April 29, 2024
Investigator Samuel Poloche
North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, NC
EOW: April 29, 2024
Police Officer Joshua Eyer
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, NC
EOW: April 29, 2024
Police Officer Russell Croxton
Dubach Police Department, LA
EOW: April 27, 2024
Sergeant Ian Taylor
Billerica Police Department, MA
EOW: April 26, 2024
Police Officer Kyle Hicks
Corpus Christi Police Department, TX
EOW: April 24, 2024
Investigator John Hampton Coddou, III
Harris County Sheriff's Office, TX
EOW: April 23, 2024