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Contrary
to the knowledge of the some of the public, the Somerset Police Department
has lost several men in the line of duty. From 1928 to today, SPD
has lost two police chiefs, one patrolman and a sheriff who once served as
our chief. It is the purpose of this web site to educate the public
and honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect the
citizens of the City of Somerset.
This
web site contains information on all officers known to this department as
killed in the line of duty. They include officers from the former
Kentucky Highway Patrol, the Burnside Town Marshal’s Office, Pulaski
County Sheriff Department and the Somerset Police.
***Photos
to be added when available****
January 15, 1928
Chief
of Police Silas West
Somerset
Police Department
Chief
West was attempting to make an arrest on the square in downtown Somerset
when he was shot by Perry Chumbley. Patrolman McKinley Massingale
and Chief West returned fire, killing Chumbley.
November 1, 1929
Patrolman
McKinley Massingale
Somerset
Police Department
Patrolman
Massingale, Patrolman Sam Waddle and Patrolman James Jasper attempted to
serve a warrant on a suspected bootlegger at a restaurant on South Maple Street. Patrolman Massingale was killed by a single shot from Ivan Hunter
as Waddle tried to open the front door of the restaurant.
March 13, 1938
Highway
Patrolman Mose Littrell
Kentucky
Highway Patrol
Patrolman
Littrell was killed in the Sandy Gap area of
Pulaski
County
while trying to remove a vehicle from blocking the road. Leslie
Farmer shot Patrolman Littrell four times, but Patrolman Littrell returned
fire and hit Farmer four times, killing him. Patrolman Littrell died
in a Lexington
hospital.
September 30, 1948
Marshal
George Southwood
Burnside
Marshal’s Office
Marshal
Southwood was shot by Constable Joe Halcomb during a labor dispute when
the Cumberland River
Bridge
was being constructed for Lake
Cumberland. Southwood was at the construction site to investigate reports of
gambling among striking workers.
July 3, 1952
Sheriff
James B. Jasper
Pulaski
County Sheriff Department
Former
Somerset PD Chief James Jasper was shot during an ambush while
investigating a bootlegger in the Bogle Street area of Somerset
.
September 16, 1964
Chief
Harold Lewis Catron
Somerset
Police Department
Chief
Catron was shot on his front porch on Jasper Street
by a drive-by shooter in 1957. He died from complications from the
shooting when a bullet fragment worked loose and lodged in his heart.
December 2, 1961
Deputy
Sheriff Douglas Hutton
Pulaski
County Sheriff Department
Deputy
Hutton was attempting to arrest Beecher Burton, an escaped convict, at his
home in the Trimble community of western Pulaski
County. Deputy Hutton was covering other officers when
Burton shot the deputy in the chest with a deer slug.
February 1, 1988
Deputy
Sheriff James Richardson
Pulaski
County Sheriff Department
Deputy
Richardson died from a heart attack while in a physical fitness portion of
the basic training academy in
Richmond, Kentucky.
April 13, 2002
Sheriff
Sam Catron
Pulaski
County Sheriff Department
Sheriff
Catron was shot by Danny Shelly while leaving political rally in Shopville
in eastern
Pulaski County. Former Deputy Sheriff Jeff Morris, running against Sheriff Catron
for the Republican nomination for Sheriff and Kenneth White were also
charged and convicted for their part in the planning and execution of the
assassination.
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