Police Officer Henry H. Heard

Henry H. Heard

Police Officer Henry Heard was shot and killed as he, his partner, and a civilian volunteer went to investigate a suspected bootlegger.

The civilian, who asserted that the suspect was selling alcohol to his brother, volunteered to attempt to buy whiskey so that the officers could arrest the suspect for bootlegging. Officer Heard went with the civilian in plainclothes to the back door of the house while his partner waited by the front door. When the suspect answered the back door, he and Officer Heard exchanged shots. Officer Heard was killed instantly, and the suspect was wounded.

Officer Heard's partner ran towards the back of the home upon hearing the shots, but the suspect managed to escape. He was later captured and charged with the murder of Officer Heard. He confessed to the killing, saying that he had mistaken Officer Heard for one of a group of men who had attacked him earlier in the day, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Officer Heard was survived by his wife, an infant son, his parents, four sisters, two half-sisters, and four brothers, one of whom served as a Dora police sergeant. His half-brother, James Heard, was also shot and killed in the line of duty on September 24, 1906, while serving as a Fulton County Office of Inspector of Roads and Bridges in Georgia.