Nashville City Police Department, Tennessee
End of Watch: Saturday, May 9, 1931
Age:
Tour of Duty: 2 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: May 9, 1931
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life in prison
Patrolman Mulvihill was shot and killed after he and his partner responded to a call of a robbery in progress. As Patrolman Mulvihill approached the door, the suspects emerged. One of the suspects was armed with a sawed-off shotgun. He shot Patrolman Mulvihill from point-blank range. Patrolman Mulvihill's partner was shot in the head but survived. He managed to wound one of the suspects, who escaped in a stolen car.
All four suspects were later apprehended. One died in the hospital of the wound, the other three, 22, 23, and 26, were sentenced to death. On October 18, 1932, Governor Henry H. Horton commuted their sentences, to 99 years for the oldest one who admitted to firing the fatal shot, and 49 years for the other two. Patrolman Mulvihill's killer was paroled on December 27, 1962. Another was pardoned by Governor Gordon Browning on January 17, 1953. In 1951 he stopped an inmate who was about to stab a guard. The third inmate was paroled in May of 1953.
Patrolman Mulvihill had been with the agency for 2 months and was survived by his six brothers and two sisters.