Fallen Officers
Officer John Gordon – September 22, 1889
Officer John Yelverton – June 3, 1899
Officer William Burnham – March 18, 1906
Captain William Etheridge – December 26, 1908
Officer R. J. Carter – April 4, 1909
Officer C. F. Bazzell – March 16, 1932
Sgt William Shackleford – February 27, 1933
Officer Clinton Green – February 26, 1938
Detective William Bowman – August 19, 1938
Officer Herbert Hatcher – January 15, 1939
Officer Andrew Schmitz – May 7, 1940
Officer Edward Pursell – August 12, 1944
Officer William “Bobo” Connors – September 16, 1944
Officer Louis Champa – May 27, 1951
Detective James Jeffcoat – March 22, 1968
Officer Curtis Neal Jones – June 27, 1980
Officer Amos Cross – September 12, 1980
Officer Stephen Taylor – October 19, 1982
Officer Steve Bolyard – June 18, 1990
Officer Glenn Austraw – February 26, 1997
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Officer John Gordon
End of Watch : September 22, 1889
The members of the Pensacola Police Department had never experienced this feeling. It was the first time.
On September 22, 1889, Officer Gordon made an arrest. The suspect fought with him, so Gordon used force to take him into custody.
The next day, Officer Gordon was walking his beat at Palafox and Zarragossa at 6:30 pm when he was approached by the same suspect. He accused Gordon of unnecessarily striking him. Officer Gordon explained that he was just doing his duty. Suddenly, the suspect produced a firearm and shot Gordon, striking him in the heart. He died 20 minutes later.
Officer Gordon, 35, was from Alabama and had two children.
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Officer John Yelverton
End of Watch: June 3, 1899
On June 1, 1899, Officer John G. Yelverton was summoned by two lawmen from Georgia to apprehend a suspect wanted for a shooting. They had followed the suspect on a train and gotten off in Pensacola.
As Yelverton approached, the suspect pulled a revolver and fired three rounds, striking Yelverton in the head and the right side. He returned fire, but the suspect fled. The two Georgia officers fired, one round striking him in the lung. Pensacola Police Chief Frank Wilde located the suspect and took him into custody.
Efforts to save Officer Yelverton failed and he died two days later.
He left to mourn his death his wife, Ida, 32 and young son. The suspect was sentenced to hang but sentence was commuted to life. He was denied a parole on December 22, 1922.
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Officer William B. Burnham
End of Watch: March 18, 1906
Officer William Burnham had been a police officer for nearly three years. As the 31-year-old was walking his beat, he noticed two men fighting in front of Norman’s Saloon. As he got closer, he could see a fight between two men – one was armed. Burnham ordered him to put the gun down, but he turned and fired at Officer Burnham, striking him in the chest. Burnham died within a few minutes. The bullet had severed an artery in his chest. The suspect fled and was never seen again.
Two days later, Officer Burnham’s funeral was attended by hundreds. He was laid to rest in St. Michael’s Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.
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Captain William Etheridge
End of Watch : December 26, 1908
William Thomas Etheridge was born in July 30, 1851 in Conecuh County, Alabama. He joined the Pensacola Police Force in 1902.
On Friday night, December 18, 1908, Captain Etheridge was patrolling on horseback. The horse fell and landed on Etheridge’s arm, breaking it. After a few days, lockjaw (tetanus) set in. On the night of Saturday, December 26, Captain Etheridge died from his injuries.
He was survived by his wife, Nannie Bradley Etheridge and three daughters: Clara, Ella and Willie.
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Officer John Carter
End of Watch : April 4, 1909
24-year-old mounted policeman Officer John Carter made an arrest near 9th Avenue and Aragon Street. As he took the man to the call box to call for a transport, a fight ensued. The suspect stabbed Carter multiple times in the chest, leaving a gaping hole. Carter fired two shots, then died. Within a few minutes, Marshal Sanders, Captain George Hall, and Sheriff Van Pelt arrived and began an unsuccessful search for the suspect.
After the suspect was apprehended and taken to the jail, 40-50 masked men stormed the city jail at 4:00 AM, forcibly tied up the suspect and drug him out of the jail across the street to Ferdinand Plaza and lynched him. Then they shot him fifteen times. The coroner later ruled the gunshots as the cause of death.
Officer Carter had been with the agency for eight months and is buried in Bayley, Georgia.
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Officer Charles Franklin Bazzell
End of Watch: March 16, 1932
March 14, 1932, was Officer Bazzell’s first day on the job. He had been a motorcycle officer in Palm Beach, Florida, buthe had only now been able to secure the position with the Pensacola Police Department.
Shortly after 10:00 PM, Frank got his first call. He and another officer were dispatched to a disturbance at the corner of 9th Avenue and Chase Street. As they were passing the intersection of Palafox and Garden Streets at 10:15 PM, Officer Bazzell’s tire struck the curb, causing him to crash and fracture his skull. He never regained consciousness. He died at 12:40 PM on March 16, 1932.
Officer Bazzell was survived by his wife and three-year-old son, Frank, Jr.
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Sergeant William Shackleford
End of Watch : February 27, 1933
Sergeant William “Chip” Shackleford died from wounds he received during a fight with a suspect several weeks earlier. He had been a member of the Pensacola Police Department for twenty years. He was 66 years old.
After arresting a suspect for an aggravated assault on January 15, 1933, Sergeant Shackleford was attacked by the suspect, slamming his head against the vehicle. Both Sergeant Shackleford and Corporal Willie Connors shot the suspect.
The suspect was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but later released. Meanwhile, Sergeant Shackleford continued to decline. On February 27, 1933, he died from his injuries.
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Officer Clinton A. Green
End of Watch : February 26, 1938
He was known as a gentlemanly officer. In early February 1938, Officer Green heard about the young 6-year-old girl in Pensacola Hospital who was dying of leukemia and needed blood. He immediately volunteered and donated.
On Saturday afternoon, February 26, 1938, Officer Green was working on his police motorcycle at his home when he received a call about a fire on Lee Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Incidentally, the fire call was less than a block from his house at 1410 N. Eighth Avenue. He responded. After finishing with the call, he left, heading west on Blount Street. Another car, headed East on Blount Street, turned left into the path of Green’s motorcycle. The policeman hit the windshield and flew over the car. Besides a badly cut neck and internal injuries, he suffered from a fractured skull. He never regained consciousness. At 6:55 PM, he died from his injuries.
Officer Green left behind a wife, one son, and four daughters.
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Detective William Bowman
End of Watch : August 19, 1938
On August 19, 1938, an investigation led Detective Archie Officer Bowman to the residence at 1005 N. Davis Street. When he entered to house, a man said something about being tired of the police always looking for liquor. Four shots were fired, and a man with a pistol in his hand ran outside, got into a car, and sped away. A check on Officer Bowman found him lying face up in the back room with four bullet wounds in the chest, right arm, and abdomen. He died on the way to the hospital.
A massive manhunt ensued. Word was received that the suspect was known to be in Uriah, Alabama, 70 miles from Pensacola. He was arrested, tried and convicted for murder. He was given a life term in prison.
Officer Bowman was survived by his wife, Carrie, and one daughter, Mrs. J. B. Harris of Molino, Florida.
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Police Officer Herbert Hatcher
End of Watch : January 15, 1939
Just after midnight on Sunday, January 15, Officer Hatcher was advised of an armed robbery at the People’s Café, located on the corner of Hayne and Wright Streets. When he arrived, the suspect fired at him, striking him in the abdomen. A second officer, Captain Riley Simmons, returned fire, killing the suspect instantly. The 17-year-old suspect was the son of fellow Pensacola Police Officer Arthur Bobe. The suspect used his father’s service revolver to shoot Officer Hatcher.
Officer Hatcher was rushed to the hospital but died at 4:45 AM. He was survived by his wife Eunice and their children – Herbert Jr., Tommie and Almedia.
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Officer Edward Pursell
End of Watch: August 12, 1944
Police Officer Edward Pursell died after he suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after struggling with a suspect he was attempting to arrest.
The subject resisted arrest after using offensive language directed towards the police department. About 15 minutes later, Officer Pursell began to feel ill and was taken to a local hospital. He passed away two days later.
Officer Pursell was a WWI veteran. He had served with the Pensacola Police Department for 10 months and had previously served as a civilian police officer for the Pensacola Naval Air Station.
He was survived by his wife, five children, sister, and three brothers.
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Corporal William Henry Connors
End of Watch: September 16, 1944
Corporal William “Bobo” Connors had been on the force since 1921. He was a second-generation Pensacola Police Officer. His father, William Connors, began his career with the Department in the late 1800s.
On September 16, 1944, Connors and Officer Lester Taylor responded to an emergency call on West Government Street. As they passed through the intersection of Baylen and Zarragossa Streets, Connors slumped over the wheel and was unresponsive. Taylor took the wheel and pulled the vehicle to the curb. An ambulance responded and took Connors to the Pensacola Hospital, where he died at 8 pm that night, presumably from heart failure.
Officer Connors left behind a wife, four children, and three grandchildren.
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Officer Louis J. Champa
End of Watch: May 27, 1951
Saturday night, May 26, 1951, as Motorcycle Officer Louis Champa was pursuing a speeding car south on Palafox Street, another car pulled in front of him at Gonzales Street. Champa tried to take evasive action but was unsuccessful.
Officer Champa was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other driver was arrested for Manslaughter but was not prosecuted.
Champa, a six-year veteran of the force, was born in Eveleth, Minnesota. He moved to Pensacola in 1943. He was survived by his wife and three daughters. Officer Champa was buried in full Pensacola Police Uniform with motorcycle officers serving as pallbearers.
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Detective James Jeffcoat
End of Watch: March 22, 1968
James Jeffcoat was born in Caryville, Florida. In 1941, he joined the U. S. Army in the European Theatre, including storming the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. He joined the Pensacola Police force in 1946. In 1961, he began his job as a detective.
On March 22, 1968, Detective Jeffcoat arrived at work as usual and, as usual, faced a busy workload. He went to work in his office at the police station. Around 3 PM, he collapsed on the table in the detective’s meeting room. His fellow officers called for an ambulance, and together, they carried him downstairs, where they were met by emergency workers. Detective Jeffcoat was pronounced dead on his arrival at Sacred Heart Hospital.
James was survived by his wife and two daughters. He is buried in St. John’s Cemetery.
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Officer Curtis Neal Jones
End of Watch: June 27, 1980
Officer Curtis Jones was working the midnight shift. Things had been slow that morning when a call went out for officers to respond to a burglary across town.
A fellow officer requested assistance, and Jones responded. As he proceeded south on Palafox Street, his patrol car left the roadway at Bobe Street and struck a building, killing him instantly.
He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Valton Jones of Crestview.
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Officer Amos Cross
End of Watch : September 12, 1980
Officer Amos Cross was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance on North D Street. He was shot in the face with a shotgun by a 19-year-old man as he approached the door. The suspect exchanged gunfire with other officers who shot and wounded him and then took him into custody. One officer was shot in the wrist and leg by the suspect. When officers went in the back yard they found his father lying on the ground, dead from a shotgun blast which had also been fired by his son, the suspect.
The suspect was declared insane and sent to a mental institution. In 1983 he was deemed sane. A year later he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to two life terms to be served consecutively. He will be eligible for parole in 2033. As of May 29, 2022, he was still incarcerated in prison.
Officer Cross had served with the agency for 17 months. He was survived by his wife and three sons, Keith, Wayne, and Victor. He was a U.S. Air Force Veteran.
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Officer Stephen A. Taylor
End of Watch: October 19, 1982
It was a normal response to a normal bank alarm – surely a false alarm. But it wasn’t. Officer Taylor was among the officers to respond to the alarm at Palafox and Gregory Streets in downtown Pensacola. When one suspect exited the bank, Taylor moved to handcuff him. The other suspect exited through another door and shot Taylor in the back, under his body armor. Within five minutes, both suspects were in custody, and Officer Taylor was dead.
The jury came back within minutes with a guilty verdict. The first suspect was sentenced to life and the second – the one who pulled the trigger – received the death penalty. He was executed by lethal injection on September 20, 2006.
Officer Taylor was survived by his wife, daughter, parents, brother, and three sisters.
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Investigator Steven Paul Bolyard
End of Watch: June 18, 1990
While Investigator Bolyard was interviewing a victim, the suspect showed up and started to beat on the front door. When he couldn’t enter, he opened fire through a window, striking Bolyard twice in the head. Bolyard retreated from the house but was shot again in the back. He was able to make it to a neighbor’s home where he collapsed and died before emergency medical technicians could arrive.
The suspect was arrested and convicted, He was sentenced to two life terms in prison.
Bolyard had served with the Florida State Attorney’s Office for 10 years and had previously served with the Pensacola Police Department for four years. He was survived by his child, parents, and three brothers.
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Officer Glenn Rowe Austraw
End of Watch : February 26, 1997
Officer Glenn Austraw was killed in an accident on his way to a training course.
As he was driving on Interstate 10 near Davis Highway, a tractor-trailer cut him off and his personal truck flipped over numerous times in the median. The driver of the tractor-trailer fled the scene of the accident. Officer Austraw was pronounced dead at the scene. Although he was driving his personal vehicle, he was dressed in his police uniform at the time of the accident.
Officer Austraw had served with the Pensacola Police Department for one year. He was survived by his expectant wife and his young son. His wife later gave birth to his daughter, born on his birthday.
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