Officer Gail A. Cobb

Gail A. Cobb

Officer Gail Cobb was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a bank robbery suspect at 20th Street and L Street, NW.

While walking her beat, she was tipped off that a suspected bank robber had just fled into a nearby underground parking garage. Officer Cobb located the man and instructed him to place his hands on the wall. As she radioed for assistance, the suspect spun around and fired a single shot at point-blank range. The bullet went through her wrist and her police radio and then penetrated her heart. She died at the scene.

The suspect was arrested at the scene by responding officers.

Officer Cobb had served with the Metropolitan Police Department for one year and was the first female Metropolitan Police Department officer to be killed in the line of duty. She is survived by her child and is buried in Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Suitland, Prince George's County, Maryland.