An off-duty police commander was shot and killed yesterday afternoon in downtown Chicago after he spotted a man matching the radio description of an armed suspect officers were chasing on foot.

Cmdr. Paul Bauer was shot multiple times after he “saw the offender and engaged in an armed physical confrontation,” Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.

The shooting occurred near the James R. Thompson Center, a state government office building.

Police captured the man a short time later, and a gun was recovered at the scene, he said.

The 53-year-old Bauer was a 31-year veteran of the department.