Deputy Sheriff John W. Matthews

John W. Matthews

Deputy Sheriff John Matthews succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained four years earlier while attempting to question a man who was fishing in Conger Bay.

The man was a suspect in a theft and the deputies had gone to this cabin on the bay to question him. They learned the man was on the water and began to approach him in their launch. As they neared the man's boat the man opened fire without warning, striking Deputy Matthews in the head.

Deputy Matthews was returned to shore and taken to a hospital as the subject sailed away. The man was shot and killed in a shootout with officers the following day.

Deputy Matthews was survived by his wife, mother, and three brothers.

His father, Sheriff Joachim Matthews, was shot and killed in the line of duty on December 2nd, 1910, while also serving with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office.