In the summer of 1903, a seemingly minor incident would tragically cut short the life of a veteran police officer. On Friday, July 3rd, 51-year-old Patrolman Louis Nelson Massey of the Evansville Police Department was making his rounds when he was approached by a local saloon owner. The proprietor informed Massey that a man had just left his establishment without settling his bill for a beer.
Massey, an 18-year veteran of the force, located the man at the corner of 10th and Mulberry
streets and began to question him about the unpaid debt. Without warning, the suspect produced a handgun and shot Patrolman Massey in the abdomen. Despite his grievous injury, Massey was able to draw his own weapon and return fire, wounding his assailant.
The wounded officer was rushed to Deaconess Hospital for medical attention. However, his injury proved to be fatal, and he succumbed to the gunshot wound the following day, on the Fourth of July. Patrolman Massey was survived by his wife and child.
The man who shot Massey, a 33-year-old offender, was taken into custody. A month after the fatal encounter, the suspect died from the wounds he sustained when Massey returned fire. He passed away while incarcerated at the Indiana Reformatory in Jeffersonville.
