Cheraw Police Department, South Carolina
End of Watch: Friday, March 7, 1884
Age: 43
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: February 23, 1884
Weapon Used: Handgun; .38 caliber
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Town Marshal William Richards was shot and mortally wounded by a man whom he attempted to arrest for being drunk and disruptive.
The suspect resisted arrest, managed to escape, and left town. Two days later the suspect returned and opened fire on the marshal from ambush, striking him in both lungs, as he sat on a box in front of a store. An innocent bystander was also shot and mortally wounded. Marshal Richards died ten days later.
The suspect barricaded himself in his family's plantation home near Cheraw. When the Chesterfield County Sheriff failed to take action, Governor Hugh Thompson ordered the state constable to arrest the suspect. On May 14, 1884, the suspect was shot and killed when he opened fire on a posse that surrounded his home.
Marshal Richards was survived by his wife and three children. He was a Civil War veteran, having served as a lieutenant with the 13th Massachusetts Infantry.