Police Officer James T. Sackett, Sr.

James T. Sackett, Sr.

Police Officer James Sackett was shot and killed by two suspects after responding to an emergency call at 859 Hague Avenue.

When he arrived, he was ambushed from across the street by a suspect with a high-powered rifle. The phone call was a false emergency call with the intention of killing a law enforcement officer.

Two suspects associated with the Black Panthers were originally questioned, but no charges were immediately filed due to a lack of evidence.

The two suspects were finally arrested and charged with Officer Sackett's murder in January 2005, 35 years after the murder. Both suspects were sentenced to life in prison in 2006. In 2008, one of the suspects had his conviction overturned and was awarded a new trial. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was released in 2010. As of 2022, the shooter is still incarcerated.

Officer Sackett was a United States Air Force veteran and had served with the St. Paul Police Department for 18 months. He was survived by his wife and four children.

The Black Panther Party was a black nationalist and Marxist revolutionary political and militant organization active in the United States between 1966 and 1982. 

Members and former members of the group were responsible for the murders of over 20 law enforcement officers and the wounding of dozens more across the nation.

Please click here to visit all the law enforcement officers who have died as a result of the Black Panther Party's violent activism.