Louisville and Nashville Railroad Police Department, Railroad Police
End of Watch: Thursday, January 10, 1918
Age: 50
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 6, 1918
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: Released in 1953
Special Officer Charles Eckert succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained four days earlier when he was shot in the Louisville and Nashville Railroad yards in East St. Louis, Illinois.
He was shot after stopping two men who were stealing coal from the railroad yards. The subject who shot him fled the scene. He was arrested in Trenton, Kentucky, by another railroad detective following an intensive eight month investigation spanning several states. The 37-year-old man was convicted of Special Officer Eckert's murder and sentenced to life in prison. He was released on February 20, 1953.