Sergeant Frank R. Von Colln

Frank R. Von Colln

Sergeant Frank Von Colln was assassinated while talking on the phone in the Cobbs Creek guard house at 63rd and Catherine Streets.

He was shot five times and killed by a members of a radical racist group known as the Revolutionaries. Sergeant Von Colln had just dispatched two of his officers to investigate the wounding of another officer who had been shot by members of the same group. The assassins targeted the Cobbs Creek guard house because of its remote location. Two other officers were shot and wounded within the same 24-hour period.

Five suspects were eventually apprehended. All five were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. As of December 31, 2011, all five were still in prison. In 1996 a sixth suspect was apprehended in Chicago, Illinois, and charged with Sergeant Von Collin's murder. He was acquitted in 1999.

Sergeant Von Collin had a son and a daughter who became police officers.