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Sergeant William Edward Schrott | Penn Hills Township Police Department, Pennsylvania
Penn Hills Township Police Department, Pennsylvania

Sergeant

William Edward Schrott

Penn Hills Township Police Department, Pennsylvania

End of Watch: Saturday, March 25, 1972

Biographical Info

Age: 49
Tour of Duty: 21 years, 7 months
Badge Number: SERGEANT

Incident Details

Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: March 25, 1972
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life

Sergeant William Schrott and Officer Bartley Connolly were shot and killed while working uniformed off-duty security jobs at a local mall.

A petite female subject had just attempted an armed robbery at the store Sergeant Schrott was working at. Thinking the woman was a little girl because of her build, Sergeant Schrott attempted to talk her into dropping the gun, but instead, she shot him. Witnesses ran to another store where Sergeant Connolly was working. He attempted to take the same action Sergeant Schrott took and was also shot and killed.

An off-duty Pittsburgh police officer shot the woman in the leg and was then shot by a responding Penn Hills Police officer who mistook him as the shooter of Sergeant Schrott and Officer Connolly.

The 24-year-old woman was convicted of first degree murder of one officer and second degree murder of the other and sentenced to life imprisonment. As of March 14, 2016, she was in prison.

Sergeant Schrott was a U.S. Army veteran of WWII and had served with the Penn Hills Police Department for 22 years. He was survived by his wife and three children.