Frank Gershon Rappaport

Patrolman Frank Rappaport and Patrolman John Gilhooly were ambushed by members of the radical group Black Panthers on a false call of a "man with a gun." As the officers entered a gangway between two buildings at 5824 S. King Drive, the man opened fire with a shotgun from a porch below, striking Patrolman Rappaport in the chest and Patrolman Gilhooly in the face and neck. The subject then shot Patrolman Rappaport again as he lay on the ground, killing him. Patrolman Gilhooly was transported to Billings Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds the following day. One subject was shot and killed by other officers, and another was wounded. Two more escaped from the scene. The wounded suspect pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 6-20 years. Patrolman Rappaport was a United States Army veteran and had served with the Chicago Police Department for 3-1/2 years. Survivors include his wife and three children. The Black Panther Party was a black nationalist and Marxist revolutionary political and militant organization active in the United States between 1966 and 1982. Members and former members of the group were responsible for the murders of over 20 law enforcement officers and the wounding of dozens more across the nation. Please click here to visit all the law enforcement officers who have died as a result of the Black Panther Party's violent activism.