Bio & Incident Details
Age: 42
Tour: 18 years
Badge # 7
Military veteran
Cause: Gunfire
Incident Date: 1/4/1969
Weapon: Rifle; M-1
Suspect: ASentenced to life
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Detective Fritcher was shot and killed while responding to an armed robbery. He and another officer were visiting a business on Davidson Road when a customer of a nearby cocktail lounge ran in and told them the place was being robbed. Detective Fritcher went to the front door and his partner went to the back door of the lounge. When the two officers entered the lounge the suspects, two men and a woman, opened fire striking Detective Fritcher in the back and wounding his partner in the hand. Detective Fritcher was transported to Hurley Hospital where he died the following day. All three suspects were captured a short time later.
Before one of the male suspects, a Southern Michigan Prison escapee, was captured he ran to a nearby house and tried to break in. He shot and killed the owner of the house in front of his wife and three children. He was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on September 12, 1969.
The female suspect was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on September 11, 1969. She died in prison on October 16, 2001.
Detective Fritcher had served with the agency for 18 years and was survived by his wife, three sons, and two step daughters. He was a World War II veteran, having served with the army in the Pacific Theatre.
