Officer Charles Blackstock was shot and killed after responding to a call of a man with a rifle who had threatened to kill another man. As he and another officer approached the suspects house the suspect opened fire with the rifle and struck Officer Blackstock in the chest and the other officer in the arm.
The suspect left the home shooting at everyone he saw. He had killed three citizens when Officer Bailey located the suspect and attempted to take cover behind a utility pole. The suspect's shot went through the pole and struck Officer Bailey in the head.
The man fled but was shot and killed in a shootout with posse members two days later when they trapped him in a swamp outside Asheville.
It was later discovered that the suspect was Will Harris, one of North Carolina's most notorious outlaws. He had escaped from two different chain gangs and had rescently escaped from the state penitentiary in Raleigh where he was serving a sentence for killing a man because he refused to share his whiskey with him. There was a book written about him entitled "The Will Harris Murders", by Bob Terrell.
Officer Blackstock was survived by his wife and child.
