Family at loss for answers on why cop shot himself, children

Family at loss for answers on why cop shot himself, children
Brother says no one saw any signs indicating there were problems
By Angela Rozas Chicago Tribune reporter
September 17, 2008
To his family, Dannie Marchan was a good father, a loving brother, a man who lived to be a Chicago cop.

But in taking his own life Monday and the life of his 7-year-old daughter, Alizay, Marchan left his family with more questions than answers.

Marchan, 29, shot himself and his two children in his Southwest Side home in what police described as a "domestic-related" incident. Marchan's 9-year-old son remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after undergoing surgery, Marchan's brother Javier said.

Family members have not made funeral arrangements.

"We are still trying to pray for his son," said Javier Marchan, 36.

The brother said Tuesday the large family—Marchan was the youngest of seven brothers and one sister—is struggling to understand why the officer shot himself. Marchan, a 4-year Police Department veteran, loved his children and his family, Javier Marchan said, and took his children to church and to Disneyland. He gave them anything they needed, he said.

Dannie Marchan struggled with being divorced, his brother said. Marchan occasionally talked with his ex-wife, who divorced him in 2005, about trying to reconcile, Javier Marchan said. But there were no signs that his life had spiraled beyond his control, he said. In conversations Monday with his other siblings, nobody could point to any signs that Marchan was in dire need of help, his brother said.
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