Patrolman Paul Budich was shot and killed inside a soft drink parlor in the area of Indiana Harbor then known as ''Little Mexico.''

   He was shot point-blank in the abdomen while rounding up suspects in the shootings earlier that week of three Gary police officers, all of whom survived.

   Patrolman Budich was taken to Mercy Hospital where he died from the wounds he suffered ten days later.

   The 24-year-old wounded suspect, who fled the scene, was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. After three stays of execution, the governor commuted his sentence to life in prison where he died in 1929.

   Patrolman Budich had been hired as the replacement for Patrolman Jacub Manka who was killed in the line of duty less than a quarter-mile away nearly 10 years earlier.

   Patrolman Budich had previously served with the Gary Police Department for three years. He was survived by his wife and two small daughters.