On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1981, a day that should have been filled with peace and gratitude, 25-year-old Troy Police Officer George Steve Watkins, a White male, responded to a call that would end his life. The report came in about an elderly man creating a disturbance by firing a gun on Daisy Court. Earlier that same day, officers had been to the same location for a similar complaint.
They had confiscated a weapon from the man but, in an act of holiday compassion, had not taken him into custody.
When the second call came in, Officer Watkins arrived at the scene, unaware of the tragedy that was about to unfold. The man, still armed, opened fire. A single bullet found its way under Officer Watkins's left arm, an area his protective vest did not cover. The wound proved to be fatal, and the young officer, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps who had served with the Troy Police Department for nearly two years, succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.
In the ensuing chaos, the suspect also shot and wounded two other responding officers, Sergeant Clark Boutwell and Sergeant Malcolm Griffin. The remaining officers on the scene returned fire, and the suspect was shot and killed, bringing a violent end to the tragic encounter. The loss of Officer Watkins was a profound blow to his family, which included his parents and four brothers, and to his fellow officers who remembered him as a lifelong friend. For months following the incident, his colleague, Sgt. Boutwell, would instinctively pick up the phone to call his fallen friend, only to be struck again by the painful reality of his absence.
