Nevada City Police Department, California
End of Watch: Monday, November 3, 1856
Age: 26
Tour of Duty: 1 year
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire (Inadvertent)
Date of Incident: November 3, 1856
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Not available
City Marshal David Johnson and Sheriff W.W. Wright, of the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, were shot and killed as they rode with a posse attempting to recapture three inmates who had escaped from the Nevada County Jail.
A second posse had secreted themselves in a remote area at Gold Ravine, near Gold Flat, believing the escapees would go to that area. Sheriff Wright and Marshal Johnson were in a second posse who also went to that area and became suspicious when they saw horses tied to a tree.
As members of the second posse approached the horses they were confronted by members of the first posse. The two posses exchanged fire in a case of mistaken identity and both Sheriff Wright and Marshal Johnson received fatal wounds.