Richard Carrington

In the early morning hours of September 25, 1981, a tense situation unfolded in Lexington, Tennessee, that would end in the tragic death of a dedicated public servant. Richard Carrington, the 40-year-old White male Chief of Police, was a man who had served the Lexington Police Department for 18 months. His life was cut short in a calculated ambush by a man he had previously arrested.

The chain of events began when Henry Darnell Plummer took a woman hostage inside a residence at 454 Franklin Street. Plummer then forced his hostage to call Chief Carrington, making his deadly intentions clear: he planned to murder the chief. Upon receiving the call, Chief Carrington, in a display of remarkable courage and dedication to preserving life, immediately headed to the scene. En route, he contacted a local judge who had prior dealings with Plummer, hoping to de-escalate the volatile situation through negotiation.

After about an hour of tense negotiations, a fragile agreement was reached. Plummer agreed to release the female hostage in exchange for an unarmed Chief Carrington. To prove he was not a threat, Chief Carrington removed his shirt and, with his arms raised, walked towards the front door, turning to show he was completely unarmed. As he completed his turn to face Plummer, a single shot rang out from a. 410 gauge shotgun, striking the chief in the chest and killing him almost instantly.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, other officers on the scene returned fire, wounding Plummer and taking him into custody. Justice for Chief Carrington's murder would follow. Henry Darnell Plummer was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder. He received a life sentence for his crime, though he was eventually granted parole. The community was left to mourn the loss of a man who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, a husband and father of three daughters who was committed to protecting the citizens of Lexington.