Police Officer Lewis A. Knapp

Lewis A. Knapp

Police Officer Lewis Knapp was shot and killed while attempting to question two subjects with another officer who had brought moonshine on the property of the Vesta Coal Company near Brownsville.

Police Officer Paul Fox and Officer Knapp had witnessed the two men carrying a five-gallon can of moonshine from a vehicle in an attempt to sell it on the property. They approached the subjects as they entered the coal company's property. Both men shot at the officers, striking Officer Knapp in the head, killing him, and striking Officer Fox in the shoulder, arm, and back as he lay on the ground. Both subjects fled the area through a railway. A posse was quickly organized after the shooting but failed to capture the men.

Officer Fox was rushed to a hospital in Brownsville where he fell unconsciousness after giving a license plate number of the vehicle that dropped off both subjects to investigators.

Officer Knapp served with the Pennsylvania Coal and Iron Police for two years. He was survived by his wife and one child.