In the spring of 1908, William Campbell, a 34-year-old male police officer with the Bristol Police Department in Virginia, was involved in a fateful encounter that would ultimately lead to his death. On April 29th, Officer Campbell and two of his fellow officers were seeking a man wanted for malicious shooting and bootlegging. Unknowingly, they located their suspect and began a conversation with him.
As the man started to walk away, a boy who was with the officers identified him as the person they were looking for.
The officers called for the man to stop, but he fled. As the suspect ran, one of the officers fired at him. Reaching the top of the street, the man turned and fired his own weapon, a handgun, at the pursuing officers. A single bullet struck Policeman Campbell in the abdomen. He was taken to his home, where his condition progressively worsened over the next two months. On July 2, 1908, William Campbell succumbed to the gunshot wound he had sustained in the line of duty. He was survived by his wife and children.
The man who shot Officer Campbell managed to escape and remained a fugitive for six years. His freedom came to an end in January 1914 when he was apprehended in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was subsequently returned to Virginia to face justice for the murder of Policeman Campbell. After his trial, he was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. Years later, in 1928, the same man was killed by return fire after he had murdered Assistant Chief Thomas Church of the Johnson City Police Department in West Virginia.
