DeKalb County Police Department, Georgia
End of Watch: Sunday, February 4, 1973
Age: 27
Tour of Duty: 2 years, 6 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Date of Incident: February 4, 1973
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: Released in 1993
Officer Larry Quinn was intentionally struck by a vehicle being operated by an escaped prisoner who was fleeing from several police officers in a high-speed chase that began in Norcross.
Officer Quinn was armed with his shotgun and positioned outside his patrol vehicle, awaiting the arrival of the suspect vehicle at the intersection of Buford Highway and Briarwood Road. When the suspect saw the officer, he drove his vehicle into the officer, killing him. The car he had stolen was found wrecked two miles away.
The 18-year-old suspect had recently escaped from the Georgia Industrial Institute near Alto, where he was serving a seven-year term for burglary. The next day he shot and killed a 59-year-old woman at a liquor store she managed near Griffin as he robbed her. A week later, he was captured by an Elbert County Deputy Sheriff near Elberton when he saw the suspect walking on Highway 72.
The suspect was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to two life terms. He was released in 1993. In 1996 he walked into a skating rink in Winter Haven, Florida, and shot and killed a man who was dating his ex-girlfriend. He shot him in the face with a shotgun as he begged for his life in front of several terrified children. Responding officers chased him for 50 minutes through Bartow, Mulberry, and Lakeland, where he stopped his car and opened fire on eight deputies, wounding one. As the deputies returned fire, he shot and killed himself.
Officer Quinn had served with the DeKalb County Police Department for 2-1/2 years. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.