Deputy Sheriff Thomas Hunter Rollins

Thomas Hunter Rollins

Deputy Sheriff Hunter Rollins was shot and killed from ambush after raiding two stills in the Paint Creek section of Greene County.

The six-man raiding party were in a car leaving the scene when they were ambushed by eight moonshiners hiding in bushes nearby. Four of the officers, including Deputy Rollins and his father, were shot. His father and two deputies were seriously wounded. The subjects who opened fire fled into the mountains.

A week later eight moonshiners, one who was only 12-years-old, were arrested and charged in connection with Deputy Rollins' murder. Three escaped from the Greenville Jail on July 12, 1925. One of the three, the ringleader, age 23, was shot and killed two weeks later by Greene County deputies and three North Carolina deputies when he was ordered to throw up his hands and pointed a shotgun at them instead. On April 21, 1937, another escapee was captured in the Paint Creek area where the ambush took place. He was jailed for murder.

Of the eight, three were charged with murder including the one who was shot and killed. The other five were charged with accessory to murder, manufacturing liquor, and several other illegal liquor violations.

Deputy Rollins was survived by his wife.