Police Officer James Edgar

James Edgar

Police Officer James Edgar succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained 4 days earlier, when he and his partner attempted to arrest five men they had discovered burglarizing a grocery store at the intersection of Ringgold and Monmouth Streets.

When the burglars were discovered, they attempted to flee and a shootout ensued between them and the two officers. Officer Edgar was struck once in the abdomen.

He was taken across the street to a doctor's home and then taken to his home where he remained until he died.

Officer Edgar was a Union Army veteran of the Civil War and had served with the Newport Police Department for only 11 months. He was survived by his wife and five children.