Bessemer City Police Department, North Carolina
End of Watch: Saturday, June 19, 1948
Age: 38
Tour of Duty: 1 year
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: June 19, 1948
Weapon Used: Rifle; .22 caliber
Suspect Info: Pardoned in 1956
Assistant Chief of Police Lloyd Parton was shot and killed as he stepped out of his patrol car to confront a man who was causing a drunken disturbance.
The subject had been drinking and lead officers on a pursuit a short time earlier. The pursuit ended when the man crashed in front of the Osage Mill office. The man then fled to his house seven blocks away as the officers arrested one of his passengers.
The man returned to the scene a short time later with a .22 caliber rifle and started shooting into the air. Assistant Chief Parton returned to the seen and was shot as he stepped from his patrol car.
The man was taken into custody and convicted of Assistant Chief Parton's murder. He was sentenced to life in prison on July 30th, 1948. He was pardoned by Governor Luther H. Hodges on August 7th, 1956. He was killed in an automobile crash in Wake County on October 15th, 1975.
Assistant Chief Lloyd was a U.S. Navy veteran and had served with the Bessemer City Police Department for one year. He was survived by his wife and eight children.