Police Officer Frank Henderson Wall, Jr.

Frank Henderson Wall, Jr.

Police Officer Frank Wall was shot and killed during a traffic stop of a auto theft suspect.

On the night of November 18 dispatch called for all cars to be on the lookout for a black and white Chevrolet, suspected to have been stolen on Monte Sano Avenue by a gunman who minutes earlier robbed Sheehan’s package shop on Wrightsboro Road.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Nov. 18, 1958, Officer Wall stopped a vehicle in the 1300 block of Walton Way. Growing suspicious, the Augusta Police Department patrolman drew his weapon from his holster. He barely had time to dismount his bike when the assailant emerged from the car firing a .32-caliber pistol six times, critically wounding Officer Wall.

Officer Wall was taken to University Hospital where he died two hours later. In the immediate days after Officer Wall’s slaying, little evidence emerged and police pushed the public to help find the killer. Detective Chief Bill Terry led investigators tracking hundreds of tips and interviewing at least 70 suspects without finding the killer; the killer was never captured.

Officer Wall was survived by his wife and three children.