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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Officer William Thomas Cross
Died -
December 21, 1855 |
|
Officer Cross was shot and killed by the man he was
attempting to arrest for being under the influence of liquor
and for refusing to leave a saloon. His killer was
convicted and sentenced to be hung. Officer
William Thomas Cross was born November 4, 1826 in Petersburg,
Va. |
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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Officer Hilton T. Smith
Died -
May 18, 1910 |
Officer
Hilton T. Smith served as assistant jailer with the Columbia
Police Department. As was the custom at the time, he and his
family lived in a cottage on the grounds of the County Jail.
On the night of May 17th a woman came to the cottage asking
that her husband be arrested for beating her. Officer Smith
therefore went with the woman to her home where he arrested
the husband. As Officer Smith escorted his prisoner to a
call box to summon a patrol wagon the man overpowered him,
got control of his revolver and shot him.
Officer Smith died as a result of his wounds the following
day. |
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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Officer Henry Frank Brown
Died -
August 17, 1921 |
Patrolman
Henry Brown, 45, was at the intersection of First and Park
Streets when he stopped and confronted a twenty-five year
old male about a horse bridle that the subject had in his
possession.
The subject attempted to flee and Patrolman Brown grabbed
the subject’s shoulder to stop him. The subject turned to
face Patrolman Brown and fired three shots. One of the
bullets struck Patrolman Brown in the chest and he was
killed instantly.
At the time of his death Patrolman Brown was survived by his
mother, his wife, four sons, and three daughters. All the
children were under the age of fifteen.
His killer was never found. |
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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Officer James W. Hite
Died -
June 25, 1934 |
|
Sergeant J. Walter Hite was fatally
injured when struck by a car driven by R. L. Edwards on the
2200 block of Main Street. He died at the Columbia hospital
at 10:45. |
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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Officer Cecil W. Watford
Died -
July 1, 1957 |
|
Officer Watford succumbed to a gunshot
wound sustained the previous day when he was shot during a
struggle with a suspect. He was investigating an
incident in which a man attempted to throw hot water on a
woman. The suspect was arrested after returning to the
scene. |
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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Lieutenant Philip G. Schlatterer
Died -
July 25, 1974 |
|
Lieutenant
Schlatterer was shot and killed while attempting to arrest
two rape suspects at 0100 hours. As he approached the men
one of them pulled out a sawed-off shotgun concealed in his
pants and shot Lieutenant Schlatterer in the chest, killing
him instantly. Unbeknownst to Lieutenant Schlatterer, the
two suspects had also murdered three people in the preceding
24-hour period.
The suspects fled with Lieutenant Schlatterer's service
weapon. The shooter was shot and killed later in the morning
by other officers and the second suspect was apprehended
with Lieutenant Schlatterer's service weapon.
Lieutenant Schlatterer had served with the agency for 22
years.
On July 25, 2005, the section of Gervais Street on which Lieutenant Schlatterer was killed was renamed in his honor.
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Gone, but not
forgotten |
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Officer Dale E. Barkley
Died -
January 27, 1981 |
|
Officer Dale Barkley was killed in a
motorcycle accident while escorting a funeral procession.
His motorcycle was struck by a car as he entered an
intersection in which another officer had already had blocked. Officer Barkley was thrown from his motorcycle and
landed underneath a nearby parked car.
Several bystanders immediately went to his aid and lifted
the parked car enough for him to be pulled from underneath
it. He was transported to Richland Memorial Hospital where
he succumbed to his injuries two days later.
Officer Barkley had served with the Columbia Police
Department for 10 years. At the time of his death Officer
Barkley was survived by his wife and son. |
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