OFFICERS  DOWNED  BY  GUNSHOTS

                                   NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

I wrote OFFICER DOWN a long time ago, but the interest in that book remains to this day. I thought of rewriting it, bringing it up to date, but I won’t. Good citizens dread the loss of a police officer by traffic accident, but truly are frightened when a police officer is gunned down in the line of duty. In this limited space I thought I would bring those stories to your attention once again as a reminder that our officers face a deadly risk every day they are on duty.

 

Wearing badge #9, Officer Theophil Joseph Seyller died in the line of duty on November 3, 1894.  Patrolman Seyller was shot four times while attempting to serve a warrant.  He was forty-two years old and the father of six. A jury found his ‘admitted’ killer not guilty.

 

Detective William F. Murphy, age 37,was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a coal thief here in Peoria, Illinois on June 23, 1903. He died at the scene of the shooting. His killer was tried for murder, found guilty and was executed by hanging in the old Peoria County Jail.

 

Patrolman Edward P. Barrett, badge #120, was on duty the early hours of October 12, 1907.  Responding to a scream in the night, Officer Barrett raced after an intruder.  Four shots rang out, and moments later fellow officers found Barrett dead from a head wound.  On 2-14-1908, a Peoria jury found Frank Meyers, alias ‘Speck’ Moss, not guilty of the murder of Officer Barrett.

 

On July 13, 1912, Sergeant James Skinner and Officer Henry Soper came to the aid of a lady screaming at the top of her lungs.  They surrounded the house and quickly were engaged in a shoot out with the woman’s husband.  They subdued him and while they were waiting for transportation another fight broke out. Soper’s gun discharged and James Skinner was accidentally shot and killed. Skinner was 56 when he died leaving a wife and children.

 

Officer Joseph H. Enos, at age 65, was the oldest officer on the police force.  On January 13, 1916, on a bitterly cold day, Enos was accidentally killed when his revolver fell from his pocket inside the ambulance he was working in. He was a married man with four children.

 

On January 24, 1916, Officer Norman Gray was making his rounds among the local taverns looking for two men wanted for armed robbery. Once he found them he took them in tow. One of them escaped and moments later came back inside the tavern and fired his weapon, striking Gray in the right eye. Harry King was convicted of murder and sentenced to die, but ended up with a life sentence.

 

Patrolman Samuel A. Moffatt died on November 28, 1917 while attempting to arrest a robbery suspect.  As Moffatt battled with the suspect, Otto Kurrie, a shot rang out.  Officer Henry Garrett ran up and fired a shot into Kurrie’s head ending the struggle.  Moffatt died the next day from a bullet wound to the stomach.  He was married and the father of seven children.

 

Patrolman Franklin P. Carr was part of a group of officers that boarded a crowded streetcar looking for a murder suspect, that early morning of October 5, 1918.  During the chaos that followed, Carr suffered a fatal bullet wound to the stomach. Carr died just short of his 66^th birthday, leaving a widow and four children.  His killer was also killed.

 

Detective Sergeant Robert E. Moran, along with fellow detectives, was searching for a killer that morning of November 13, 1933. They spotted him down at Larson’s Barbershop and the ensuing shootout cost him his life. The suspect was killed, and two other men were wounded. Moran, age 36, left a widow and children.

 

On August 24, 1947, Patrolman John D. Cusson was patrolling the south side of Peoria, Illinois when he encountered a man running along the road. He and his partner stopped the man and a gunfight between the three men ended the life of twenty-two year-old Officer Cusson.  Killer Edward Henden was sentence to life in prison.

 

County Deputy Raymond F. Espinosa responded to a robbery call out at the Bellevue Drive-in Theater. As he drove up to the entrance he encountered the armed suspect who fired three shots without warning at the deputy. Deputy Espinosa died there in his unmarked police car on May 25, 1970. Killer Cleve Heidelburg Jr. was sentenced to 99 to 175 years for murder.

 

On October 1, 1987, Deputy John ‘Kip’ Sack arrived at 2102 N. University to serve a warrant on the owner of the house.  Deputy Sack was fatally shot in the back and during the siege of the house the suspect was killed. John was a beloved husband, father and popular officer.

 

Officer Donan James Faulkner Jr. was shot and killed while on patrol on September 20, 2001. His killer was arrested, tried and sentenced to Life in prison. Faulkner was survived by his wife and five children.

 

Constable Arthur T. Smith was an elected police officer and died by gunfire on June 12, 1922. His name is on the monument with the Peoria Park District Officers.

 

Editor’s Note:  Further details can be found in Officer Down available in the library. Norm is a

Peoria Author, Historian and contributor to NEWS & VIEWS.   norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net