Tucumcari Police Department, New Mexico
End of Watch: Friday, November 11, 1966
Age: 57
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: November 9, 1966
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Committed suicide in jail
Sergeant Wignall succumbed to wounds received two days earlier when he was shot on a rampage after his brother was arrested the previous day. The man went to his mother-in-law's home where he murdered his sister-in-law. He then took his wife hostage and took her to the police station. Once there he let her go and took two men hostage. He forced them up the stairs where he encountered a dispatcher and Sergeant Wignall. He forced Sergeant Wignall to give him the jail key and then shot him in the back. When he opened the jail he discovered that his brother was no longer there because he had been transferred to the county jail earlier in the day.
The suspect then took the dispatcher hostage and left the jail. He took her to a nearby store where he was surrounded by officers. He eventually surrendered. He was sentenced to life in prison but committed suicide in his cell in 1980.
Sergeant Wignall was survived by his and son.