Officer Eugene C. Robinson

Eugene C. Robinson

Officer Eugene Robinson was shot and killed investigating several suspicious persons on the corner of Valencia Street and Eighteenth Street. The men were committing a burglary when they were caught by Officer Robinson.

As he ordered the three men to surrender they opened fire, wounding Officer Robinson in the stomach three times. Officer Robinson was able to return fire and wounded one of the suspects.

Six suspects were eventually taken into custody and convicted of charges ranging from manslaughter to first degree murder. One of the suspects was sentenced to death and hanged at San Quentin State Prison on October 6th, 1905. A second suspect was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison but was killed in San Quentin Prison by another inmate in 1912.

One of the arrested offenders was wanted for accessory after the fact for the murder of Police Officer Nicholas Hunt, of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on November 15, 1897.

Officer Robinson had served with the San Francisco Police Department for six years. He was survived by his mother, brother, and sister.

In 1902 Officer Robinson's photograph was installed at the San Francisco Police Headquarters, along with four other officers killed in the line of duty, where it was displayed until the California earthquake of 1906 when all of the portraits were lost.