Patrolman George W. Daugherty

George W. Daugherty

Patrolman George Daugherty was shot and killed while chasing a man he erroneously suspected of being a burglar near the corner of Greenwood Street and Ridge Avenue.

As a father and teenage son were going duck hunting at 2:30 am, the man was carrying a box of duck decoys that Patrolman Daugherty mistakenly took to be a box of stolen goods. He ordered the two to halt, but both subjects began to run in opposite directions. Patrolman Daugherty took up the chase, then fired a warning shot alongside the fleeing man. The man returned fire with a shotgun, fatally wounding Patrolman Daugherty who died later that evening.

The suspect was tried for murder, but after testimony from both the father and son that they had mistaken Patrolman Daugherty and his partner for robbers in the darkness, the father was acquitted.

Patrolman Daugherty had served with the Evanston Police Department for three years. He was survived by his wife and six children.