In the small town of Donalsonville, Georgia, a confrontation on December 23, 1911, ended in the death of Town Marshal Charles Abner Roberts. The 52-year-old lawman was attempting to arrest a man who had reportedly been threatening a citizen with a pistol.
On the outskirts of town, Marshal Roberts located the suspect and ordered him to get out of his wagon. The man responded by producing a handgun and opening fire on the marshal. As he collapsed from the gunshot wound, Roberts managed to draw his own weapon and return fire, injuring his assailant.
Following the exchange of gunfire, an angered group of local citizens quickly gathered at the scene. The crowd took matters into their own hands and shot and killed the man who had just killed their town marshal.
