Policeman Charles Hartsell Smelser

Charles Hartsell Smelser

Policeman Charles Smelser succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained three days earlier while attempting to arrest three drunk men who were had been shooting at citizens throughout town.

He had confronted one of the men and was placing him under arrest when one of the other men approached and held it at bay with a shotgun. The first man then took Policeman Smelser's service revolver and shot him in the head.

The men continued shooting other citizens, wounding two, until one of them was finally shot and wounded by the chief of police. All three were charged with Policeman Smelser's murder. One was found guilty, one was acquitted, and a mistrial was declared in the trial of the third subject.

Policeman Smelser was survived by his wife.