Bristol Police Department, Virginia
End of Watch: Thursday, July 2, 1908
Age: 34
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: April 29, 1908
Weapon Used: Handgun; Revolver
Suspect Info: Sentenced to 7 years
Policeman William Campbell was shot and killed when he and two other officers located a man wanted for malicious shooting and bootlegging.
Not realizing they had located the man, the three officers engaged him in conversation. As the man began to walk away, a boy who had been accompanying the officers informed them the man was who they were looking for.
When the officers called out to the man to halt, he immediately began to run away. One of the officers fired at the man, who continued to run. When the man reached the top of the street he turned around and shot at the officers, striking Policeman Campbell in the abdomen.
Policeman Campbell was taken to his home where his condition worsened until he succumbed to the wound on July 2, 1908.
The shooter was able to flee and remained at large for 6 years. He was finally arrested in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in January 1914. He was returned to Virginia where he was convicted of Policeman Campbell's murder and sentenced to 7 years in prison.