Constable Arthur Rheinhold Blomstrom

Arthur Rheinhold Blomstrom

Constable Arthur Blomstrom was shot and killed while attempting to serve an assault warrant at a suspect's house.

Accompanied by the county sheriff, a deputy sheriff and a jailer, the officers went to the suspect's house south of Lerna shortly after 2:00 pm when the deputy sheriff knocked on the rear door. After receiving no answer, the officers started for the front of the house, when a blast from a 16-gauge shotgun caught Constable Blomstrom in the face. The other officers retreated while the sheriff was able to crawl to his car under cover and went for assistance.

A posse of more than 25 citizens and police officers from Charleston and Mattoon came to assist and surrounded the house. While the house was being peppered with gunfire, a rope was used to loop around Constable Blomstrom's arm and dragged him away from the house. He was transported to a Mattoon hospital, but died as the ambulance reached the city limits about 3:45 pm. The coroner later found 108 pellets from the shotgun lodged in the constable's face and neck.

The posse continued the siege and only after the house was bombed with tear gas did officers enter the house. They found the suspect dead from an apparent self-inflicted shotgun blast. The assault warrant issued for the suspect was the result of him striking his wife and daughter about the head with the butt of the shotgun during a dispute over his veteran's pension checks.

Constable Blomstrom was survived by his wife, son, daughter and 10 grandchildren.