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| Deputy Sheriff William A. Holmes
Gila County Sheriff's Office
Arizona
End of Watch: Saturday, November 2, 1889 Biographical Info
Age: Not available
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Saturday, November 2, 1889
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Two shot and killed Deputy Holmes and Sheriff Glenn Reynolds were shot and killed and another deputy was shot and seriously wounded while taking several outlaws to the Territorial Prison in Yuma, Arizona. The deputies were overpowered when they let the prisoners out of the prison wagon to give the horses an easier walk on an incline. Two of the suspects were later killed and three others arrested and tried for the murders.
The leader of the gang that murdered the two was known as the Apache Kid. The following year he was responsible for the murder of Chief Ben Williams, of the Bisbee Police Department.
The Apache Kid, a short, stocky, full blooded apache, was a sergeant of indian scouts who assisted General George Crook in the capture of Geronimo before turning outlaw. In 1888 he was sent to Alcatraz for murder. A year later to the suprise of many he was pardoned by President Cleveland. Soon afterwards he and several other indians were charged with murder, resulting in the murders of Sheriff Reynolds and Deputy Holmes. For the next five years the Kid and his gang went along the U.S. Mexican border on both sides killing people and taking whatever they wanted. In 1894 the Apache Kid mysteriously dissapeared. It is not known what happened to him. Related Line of Duty Deaths | |
