Sergeant George Leon Garrett, Jr.

George Leon Garrett, Jr.

Sergeant George Garrett was shot and killed during a bank robbery.

A silent alarm was activated by one of the tellers after two suspects entered a Bank of America and threatened to detonate a bomb. Four plain clothes officers arrived to the scene within three minutes. Sergeant Garrett, who was not in uniform, entered first and approached the bank manager and identified himself as an officer. It was unknown to the officer that one of the suspects, who was dressed in a suit and tie, was standing next to the bank manager. Shots immediately rang out and Sergeant Garrett was fatally wounded.

Officers returned fire killing one of the suspects, and one of the other plain clothes officers was wounded when he was mistaken for one of the suspects by patrol officers who had also responded to the scene.

Sergeant Garrett had been employed with the Redwood City Police Department for ten years and is the only officer killed in the line of duty in the department's history; he is survived by his wife and daughter (born after his death). He is buried in Skyline Memorial Park and in 1981 city officials dedicated the George L. Garrett Junior Memorial Park in his honor.