Game Warden Norman D. Fairbanks

Norman D. Fairbanks

Game Warden Norman Fairbanks was shot and killed as he and another officer attempted to arrest two men for illegal trapping at a cabin at Wolf Lake, near Hibbing, Minnesota.

The two men had failed to show up for a court appearance so the officers returned to the cabin to arrest them. As they entered the cabin one of the men opened fire, mortally wounding Warden Fairbanks.

The other officer was not injured and was able to return fire as the suspects fled. Two months later one was shot and killed and the other was arrested. The one who was arrested was acquitted after pleading insanity. Warden Fairbanks succumbed to his wounds two weeks after the shooting.

Warden Fairbanks was survived by his wife and six children. One of his sons was also a game warden and had gone to the scene of the shooting to transport his father to the hospital.