Officer Charles J. Russell - Indianapolis Police Dept. - True Life Hero

Charles J. Russell
- Sep. 30, 1906 -

(8679)

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Indianapolis Police Dept. IN Patch

Resided:	Indianapolis (Marion County) IN, USA
Born:	Unk
Fallen:	Sep. 30, 1906
Race/Sex:	Caucasian Male
	Agency
Dept:	Indianapolis Police Dept. 50 North Alabama Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 USA (317)327-3811
County:	Marion
Dept. Type:	Municipal/Police
Hero's Rank:	Officer
Sworn Date:	Unk
FBI Class:	Homicide - Gun
Weapon Class:	Handgun
Agency URL:	Click Here
On The Job:	5 years

Bio: Not Available

Survived by:

Mamie - Wife
and baby. He also had three sons by a former wife.

Fatal Incident Summary

Offender:	Jesse Coe / Male

Offender:	George Williams / Male

Location:	Indianapolis, Marion County, IN USA Sun. Sep. 30, 1906
Summary:	Officer Charles J. Russell and his partner, Officer Edward J. Petticord, were shot and killed in an incident that occurred shortly after 8 o'clock near 24th Street and Indianapolis Avenue. Officers Russell and Petticord were in the neighborhood searching for subjects who had reportedly been involved in a drunken fight when they came across Jesse Coe and George Williams. As Officer Russell stepped forward to search Coe, Coe drew a revolver and fired three shots toward Russell at a range of about two feet. Officer Russell sank to the ground and Coe started to run. Officer Petticord started after Coe, with George Williams in the rear. Officer Petticord ran about 100 feet when Williams drew a revolver and fired a bullet into the officer's back. Officer Petticord staggered and fell in a leaning position over a fence post. Coe and Williams then disappeared. Officers Russell and Petticord were both hurriedly taken to the City Hospital. Officer Russell's death followed a short time afterward, and Officer Petticord died in the early morning hours of October 2. The news of the incident resulted in the organization of a systematic search. Police wagons filled with officers and detectives and several bicyclemen raced to the scene. Day men were summoned from their homes, and district patrolmen throughout the city were notified. All outgoing inter-urban cars and freight trains were searched. Men were sent to the outskirts, and all the haunts of Coe and Williams were watched. The police engaged the services of two chauffeurs, and two automobiles loaded with detectives joined the searching troops. Williams was quickly apprehended where he and Coe roomed at 936 Queen Avenue, a few blocks from the incident.
Disposition:	Jesse Coe, known as a desperado with considerable intelligence, eluded a nation-wide police manhunt until August 25, 1908, when he was killed in a shoot-out with Monroe County, Kentucky, Sheriff J. E. Bryant and his deputies near Marlinsburg, on the Cumberland river. Bryant had been on the look-out for Coe during the two years since the officers' deaths, confident that Coe would show himself sooner or later. The range of hills bordering the Cumberland river east of Tompkinsville was one of the wildest and most sparsely settled districts in Kentucky. Nearly all the inhabitants of the hills were related to the Coe family. On October 25, 1906, George Williams was convicted and sentenced to death in the Marion County Criminal Court. He was executed at the gallows in the State prison in Michigan City on Friday, February 8, 1907. Williams was the last man to have been hanged in Indiana. The electric chair replaced the gallows after his execution.
Source:	Website Click
Source:	Website Click
Related:	Edward J. Petticord

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Last Updated: Sep. 21, 2013