Charleston County Police Department, South Carolina
End of Watch Saturday, March 27, 1948
Add to My HeroesLeon s Gooding
Patrolman Leon Gooding was shot and killed after he and his partner arrested a man on the John Island railroad tracks who had escaped from the South Carolina state mental hospital a month earlier.
They confiscated a rifle from the man but failed to locate a .22 caliber pistol. As the officers drove the man to jail he produced the pistol and shot both officers, killing Patrolman Gooding.
The 30-year-old suspect, declared insane was sent to the state penitentiary without a trial and remained there until 1973 when he was removed to a state hospital because he refused to allow doctors to amputate his leg that was infected with gangrene. His case was very complicated. He and his attorneys argued for years that he needed to be in a mental hospital but state officials argued he was too dangerous and prison was the best place for him.
Bio
- Age Not available
- Tour Not available
- Badge Not available
Incident Details
- Cause Gunfire
- Weapon Handgun; .22 caliber
- Offender Not available
Most Recent Reflection
View all 9 ReflectionsRest in peace Patrolman Gooding.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
January 4, 2020
Recent LODD Deaths

Police Officer Peter E. C. Jerving
Milwaukee Police Department, WI
EOW: February 7, 2023
Police Officer Sean Sluganski
McKeesport Police Department, PA
EOW: February 6, 2023

Criminal Investigator Steven A. Carnes
Tom Green County District Attorney's Office, TX
EOW: November 13, 2022

Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco, Jr.
Selma Police Department, CA
EOW: January 31, 2023

Master Patrol Officer Clarence L. "CJ" Williams
Cairo Police Department, GA
EOW: January 28, 2023

Supervisory Officer Jacqueline Montanaro
United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations, US
EOW: January 14, 2023

Police Officer Carl Douglas Kimball
St. Francisville Police Department, LA
EOW: January 12, 2023

Deputy Sheriff Darnell Calhoun
Riverside County Sheriff's Department, CA
EOW: January 13, 2023

Court Services Officer Curtis Matthew Worland
Alaska State Troopers, AK
EOW: December 13, 2022