Lieutenant Philip George Schlatterer

Philip George Schlatterer

Lieutenant Philip Schlatterer was shot and killed while attempting to question two subjects about a shooting incident earlier in the evening.

As he approached the men on Gervais Street, between Millwood Street and Harden Street, at approximately 1:00 am., one of them pulled out a sawed-off shotgun concealed in his pants and shot Lieutenant Schlatterer in the chest, killing him instantly. Unbeknownst to Lieutenant Schlatterer, the suspect had also murdered three people in the preceding 24-hour period.

The suspect fled with Lieutenant Schlatterer's service weapon. The shooter was shot and killed later in the morning by other officers, and the second suspect was apprehended with Lieutenant Schlatterer's service weapon.

Lieutenant Schlatterer was a United States Army WWII veteran and had served with the Columbia Police Department for 22 years. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, a sister, two brothers, and two grandchildren.

On July 25th, 2005, the section of the street on which Lieutenant Schlatterer was killed was renamed in his honor.