Ontario Police Department, California
End of Watch: Friday, February 21, 1958
Age: 34
Tour of Duty: 6 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: February 21, 1958
Weapon Used: Handgun; .38 caliber
Suspect Info: Committed
Detective Russell Grower was shot and killed as he and two other detectives from separate agencies went to Soquel Canyon to investigate a gang of tire thieves.
When a suspect answered the door of his cabin he attempted to shut it on Detective Grower when he identified himself as a police officer. The suspect then shot Detective Grower in the head.
The suspect, 34, a former secret service agent with the U.S. Air Force Intelligence Service, had been released from a Arkansas mental hospital in October of 1957. He was apprehended the next day and later returned to a maximum security prison for the criminally insane.
Detective Grower was a U.S. Air Force World War II veteran who was shot down over Germany and held prisoner for 13 months. He was survived by his wife and three children.