Deputy Sheriff John R. Wright

John R. Wright

Deputy Sheriff John Wright and Chief Deputy Calvin Lee, of the Obion County Sheriff's Office, were shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call about 1.5 miles west of Elkridge.

Deputy Wright was the first deputy on the scene and was ambushed as he and a companion approached the house. The suspect had been hiding in the back seat of his car and opened fire on Deputy Wright, killing him and mortally wounding his companion. The man then shot and killed Chief Deputy Lee when he arrived on the scene.

The 35-year-old suspect was never charged with the deputies' murders but was convicted of Deputy Wright's companion's murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. In 1960 Governor Buford Ellington commuted his sentence to life, making him eligible for parole. He was paroled in 1963 and died in 1974.

Deputy Wright was survived by his wife and four children.