Deputy Sheriff Philip Fatch

Philip Fatch

Deputy Sheriff Philip Fatch was shot and mortally wounded and another deputy was slightly wounded in a gunfight with a man they attempted to arrest on a warrant for assault and battery.

When approached, the suspect produced a pistol and opened fire, striking Deputy Fatch in the abdomen and the other deputy in his ankle. Both deputies returned fire striking the suspect three times. Deputy Fatch succumbed to his wound later that night.

Two nights later an angry mob seized the suspect from the Mobile County Jail and hanged him from a tree at the corner of Emmanuel and Church Streets.