Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer William Schnell became the victim of an unanticipated discharge while cleaning his service revolver.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-BA28F2F8- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew William. Claim this record.
This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.
Tributes
134 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Schnell gave the Chicago Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Chicago community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman William H. Schnell is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Chicago Police Department, 107 of 571 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 18.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William H. Schnell's cause is highlighted.
How William H. Schnell Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William H. Schnell is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
570 officers from Chicago Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
