Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania
End of Watch: Tuesday, May 12, 1931
Age: 42
Tour of Duty: 11 years, 8 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: May 12, 1931
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Imprisoned in a mental hospital
Sergeant McCarthy was shot and killed after he accompanied two other officers to assist the Fulton County sheriff in serving a custody warrant on a suspect at his home in Brush Creek Township. When Sergeant McCarthy who was let into the house by the suspects mother, entered the kitchen, the suspect fired a pistol he had concealed, fatally wounding Sergeant McCarthy. The suspect fled to the upstairs. A second officer who was standing at the door ordered another officer to take the Sergeant to the car, but before they could reach the car, Sergeant McCarthy fell to the ground and died.
Searching for Suspect another officer was wounded, but not seriously. Another officer ran to a home located atop the hill to phone for assistance. When assistance arrived, Sergeant McCarthy's dog, Omar, was freed from the car to enter the house. When located by Omar, the suspect shot Omar. The officer wounded earlier was again wounded by gunfire as he tried to fire a tear gas bomb into the house. Outdoors, Omar, seriously wounded, was found crouched aside Sergeant McCarthy's body.
The suspect, 30, was finally apprehended; but his right arm was shattered by rifle fire and had to be amputated. He was judged hopelessly insane, and transferred to the Fairview institution for the criminally insane. Both the wounded officer and Sergeant McCarty's dog, Omar, recovered from their wounds.
Sergeant McCarthy served in the British and U.S Army and was a WWI veteran. He had served with the Pennsylvania State Police for