Lieutenant Ted Cephus Elmore

Ted Cephus Elmore

Lieutenant Ted Elmore succumbed to wounds sustained on November 11, 1971, when he was shot while making a traffic stop on Highway 64-70, east of the Hickory Motor Speedway, in Conover, shortly before 5:00 a.m.

Unbeknownst to Lieutenant Elmore, he had stopped two members of the radical Black Panthers who had shot and wounded an Atlanta, Georgia, police officer several weeks earlier. As he exited his patrol car, the occupants of the vehicle opened fire, striking him in the right arm, disabling it. As he tried to draw his weapon with his left hand, he was shot again in the abdomen and fell to the ground. The assailants then shot him a third time, hitting him in the back, severing his spinal cord, and causing paralysis.

The suspects abandoned their car and fled into a nearby wooded area. After a massive manhunt, both were apprehended. Their car was found to contain several rifles, three shotguns, a bazooka, and 14,000 rounds of ammunition.

On February 15, 1973, both suspects were convicted of felonious and secret assault. One was sentenced to 23 to 25 years in prison. He was paroled on August 3, 1990. The other suspect was sentenced to 5 years. He was paroled on September 28, 1975.

Lieutenant Elmore remained paralyzed until passing away 11 years later. It was determined that his passing was a direct result of his wounds.

Lieutenant Elmore had served with the Catawba County Sheriff's Office for 12 years. Survivors include his wife and child.

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.