Frank R. Von Colln

Fairmount Park Police Department — Philadelphia, PA

Felonious

End of Watch August 29, 1970

Age 43

The Vigil Panel 107 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 6

Incident

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, all in their mid 20s, 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. On May 31, 1973, one of the five and another inmate attacked and stabbed to death Warden Patrick Curran and Deputy Warden Robert Fromhold of the Philadelphia Prison System. They also stabbed and seriously wounded a guard who came to their rescue. The other inmate was in prison for the murder of Police Officer Joseph V. Kelly of the Philadelphia Police Department on February 21, 1971. As of June 20, 2020, Sergeant Von Colln's killer was in prison. Sergeant Von Collin had a son and a daughter who became police officers.

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Permanent identifier: BO-US-PA-9A1EED28
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Von Colln served with the Fairmount Park Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Von Colln.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Fairmount Park Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Philadelphia, PA

Platform Identity fppd.philadelphia.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 29, 1970

Age 43

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun

Sergeant Frank R. Von Colln is one of 1 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In PA, 597 of 1,261 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 47.3% of this state's fallen. That is 47.3 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Fairmount Park Police Department, 2 of 7 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 28.6% of this agency's fallen.

Fairmount Park Police Department

of 7 officers

28.6% Felonious

PA — Statewide

597

of 1,261 officers

47.3% Felonious

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Felonious