In the early hours of a winter night in Bristol, Tennessee, the life of Patrolman Samuel Houston Childress, a 33-year-old male officer, was brought to an abrupt and violent end. On February 7, 1903, a dispute simmering with animosity on State Street escalated to a fatal confrontation. The man who fired the deadly shot was Grat Walk, a police officer from the neighboring Bristol, Virginia.
The quarrel between the two lawmen concluded at midnight when Walk shot and killed Childress.
Following the shooting, Walk became a fugitive, evading capture for a week before he finally surrendered to face the consequences of his actions. He was taken into custody and held without bond at the Sullivan County jail in Blountville. While incarcerated, Walk managed to earn the trust of the jailers by providing them with information about a potential jailbreak. This misplaced confidence afforded him an opportunity to escape. One evening, after complaining of feeling ill, he was allowed outside for some fresh air and vanished, beginning a seven-year period on the run.
Walk's time as a fugitive came to an end in 1910 when he was located and arrested in Spokane, Washington. He was extradited back to Tennessee to stand trial for the murder of Officer Childress. The court found Grat Walk guilty of second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison. After serving a portion of his sentence, he was released. His life, however, also ended tragically when he was later killed in an accident at a railroad crossing.
