In the early hours of a December morning in Anniston, Alabama, a sense of duty led to a tragic end for a local lawman. Police Officer Jack Holland was responding to a call at a house of ill repute on Glen Addie Avenue shortly after midnight. There, he arrested a federal prohibition agent who was intoxicated. After disarming the man, Officer Holland began to walk him to the city jail.
As the two men made their way down Glen Addie Avenue, the quiet of the night was shattered by gunfire.
A friend of the arrested agent emerged from a nearby home and opened fire on Officer Holland and his prisoner. In the ensuing shootout, both Officer Holland and the man he was escorting were struck by bullets. Officer Holland succumbed to his wounds the following day, December 22, 1914. The prisoner also died from the injuries he sustained.
The man who shot Officer Holland was subsequently arrested and charged with murder. The case went to trial three separate times, but each time the proceedings ended in a hung jury, and a conviction was never secured. Officer Holland, a male, was survived by his wife and five children. In a continuation of his father's legacy of service, one of his sons would later join the Anniston Police Department, retiring in the 1960s.
