On a summer night in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the peace was shattered by gunfire that would ultimately claim the life of a veteran police officer. George W. Wilson, a 50-year-old White/Caucasian male and a detective with the Council Bluffs Police Department, was at home and off-duty on the evening of Sunday, July 28, 1907. A 10-year veteran of the force, Wilson was known for his dedication and fearlessness. When word reached him that a fellow officer, W.H.
Richardson, had been shot and wounded, he immediately joined the hunt for the assailant.
The chain of events began around 10:00 p.m. when Officer Richardson responded to a call. The nature of the call is uncertain, with reports ranging from a vagrant causing a disturbance to a cornered burglar. Upon confronting the man, Richardson was shot in the chest before he even had a chance to search the suspect. The gunman fled, and despite his serious injury, Richardson managed to return fire as he gave chase before collapsing. With an officer down, the city's police force, including off-duty officers like Detective Wilson, mobilized to find the shooter. Both Richardson and Wilson would later provide similar descriptions of their attacker, confirming it was the same man.
Living close to where Officer Richardson was shot, Detective Wilson began to search the area. At about 10:30 p.m., near the head of Elliott Street and only two blocks from his own residence, Wilson spotted a suspicious man hiding in a ditch and ordered him to stop. In an instant, both men drew their weapons and exchanged fire. A bullet struck Wilson in the stomach, inflicting a mortal wound. Before he was taken to the hospital, Wilson was able to tell his fellow officers that he believed he had shot the suspect in the foot, as the man was limping badly as he made his escape.
Wilson was rushed to Edmondson Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where Officer Richardson was being treated. Despite immediate surgery to remove the bullet, Detective George W. Wilson died from his injuries in the early morning hours of July 29, 1907. While the search for his killer was extensive, with rumors of captures in nearby towns, no definitive arrest was ever made in his murder. The case of the coldblooded desperado who shot two officers in one night, leaving one dead, remains an unsolved chapter in the history of the Council Bluffs Police Department.
