Deputy Sheriff George W. Gillis

George W. Gillis

Deputy Sheriff George Gillis was shot and killed in El Monte, California, while attempting to locate a man as part of an investigation.

He and the sheriff had gone to the city earlier in the day, but the sheriff had returned to Los Angeles after they could not locate the man. Deputy Gillis remained in El Monte and located the man fighting with another man later in the evening.

Deputy Gillis identified himself as a deputy and ordered the men to stop fighting. The man then pushed Deputy Gillis out of the saloon door, drew a handgun, and shot him. The subject then stole Deputy Gillis' horse and fled to San Juan Capistrano. He was captured, convicted of Deputy Gillis' murder, and sentenced to life. In 1894 his sentence was reduced to 20 years by Governor Henry W. Markham.