Rural Police Officer Elmo Frazier Langford
Beaufort County Sheriff's Department
South Carolina
End of Watch: Monday, June 6, 1927

Biographical Info
Age: Not available
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Monday, June 6, 1927
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life

Officer Langford was killed when he and a volunteer assistant attempted to arrest a suspect for careless and reckless driving.

Visitors to Beaufort reported that they had been forced off the road by three men and a women in a Buick near Grays Hill. Officer Langford later spotted the Buick and its occupants at a family reunion and ball game. As Officer Langford attempted to arrest the driver a fight ensued. The crowd rapidly turned on Officer Langford as the driver's father ran up behind him and shot him in the back. The volunteer, armed only with a two-shot derringer, fired one shot and then fled in Officer Langford's patrol car to seek help.

Later examination would reveal that Officer Langford was shot, stabbed, kicked, beaten, bludgeoned, and bit several times. The driver, his father, and his family were apprehended later that afternoon in Ridgeland. The driver, his wife and father, and three other men were charged with first degree murder.

The defendants were all tried together in 1927. The National Guard had to be deployed by Governor Richards to prevent a lynching. The driver, his father, and another man were sentenced to death. The other three were sentenced to life. In 1929 Governor Richards commuted the death sentences to life.