Winthrop Harbor Police Department, Illinois
End of Watch: Friday, January 13, 1922
Age: 28
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 13, 1922
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Pardoned in 1928
Marshal William Petersen was shot and killed as he attempted to stop a speeding vehicle.
As Marshal Petersen stood in an auto repair shop, he observed the vehicle speed down the street at approximately 70 mph and nearly strike two children. He gave pursuit on his police motorcycle, and as he was about to overtake the vehicle, one of the occupants leaned out of the window and shot him in the chest and abdomen with a shotgun, killing him instantly.
The suspects were later arrested, and the suspect, identified as the gunman, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 1922, the governor granted clemency and commuted the inmate's sentence to life in prison, but in 1928, the same governor granted the inmate a pardon.
Marshal Petersen was a World War I veteran and was the village's only law enforcement officer.