Brunswick County Constable's Office, Virginia
End of Watch: Friday, December 24, 1869
Age: 50
Tour of Duty: 2 days
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: December 24, 1869
Weapon Used: Rifle
Suspect Info: Executed in 1871
Special Constable John Drummond was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man who had threatened a citizen four days earlier.
Constable Drummond had been deputized as a special constable and given the warrant to serve on the suspect. Constable Drummond then enlisted the help of several neighbors to help him make the arrest.
When posse located the two men on a road at approximately 3:00 pm. The men immediately dismounted their horses and the wanted man took cover in a cluster of pine trees. As Constable Drummond finished reading the warrant the man opened fire with a carbine rifle, striking him in the chest.
Both suspects fled the scene and remained at large for almost one year before being arrested. Their trial was moved to Greensville County, where both men were subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The man who fired the fatal shot was declared insane and remanded to a state asylum. The accomplice was executed by hanging in Greensville County on July 22, 1871.
Constable Drummond was a Confederate Army veteran of the Civil War. He had served as a special constable for only two days. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and two daughters.