Patrick Francis Kennedy was born in Detroit, Michigan, as the eldest son of 10 children to Angus Patrick and Catherine Ann Kennedy. As a teenager, he was sent to St. Lawrence Seminary School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he excelled in basketball and demonstrated an older-brotherly demeanor, leading his parents to hope he would attend Marian College and become a Catholic priest.
However, after graduating and spending two years at college, Pat chose a different path. He decided to follow in his father's and great-grandfather's footsteps by becoming a policeman, with the intention of pursuing education or social work after his retirement. He relocated to Milwaukee and joined the force, quickly rising through the ranks to become a detective in the violent crimes division.
On a fateful night, July 22, 1991, at 11:30 pm, Pat responded to a call for backup to assist at the Oxford Apartments, where a murder and police struggle were reportedly in progress. It was there that he encountered Jeffrey Dahmer, an enormous amount of evidence, and made the historic arrest that would change the course of history.
