Nevada County Sheriff's Office, California
End of Watch: Sunday, July 26, 1896
Age: 38
Tour of Duty: 6 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: July 26, 1896
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: One shot and killed
Sheriff David Douglass went into the wilds of Cement Hill in search of a bandit suspected in a string of robberies. After Sheriff Douglass failed to return, a search party found his body, and not too far from him, the body of the bandit he was looking for. Both had been shot to death.
It remains a mystery as to exactly what happened. The two may have shot it out, killing each other, or possibly a third man, an accomplice of the bandit, killed Sheriff Douglass. Forty years later, a monument was erected on the spot which says, among other things, It is believed that Sheriff Douglass was pitted against two and that one escaped.
Sheriff Douglass had served with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office for six years and was survived by his wife, child, mother, father, and siblings. He is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery, Nevada City, Nevada County, California.