Constable Alonzo "Lon" Rains

Alonzo "Lon" Rains

Constable Lon Rains was shot and killed while investigating a disturbance in Chickamauga.

Citizens had requested he come to the village to keep the peace during a Christmas celebration. While he was there a group of men started creating a disturbance in a nearby house and Constable Rains went to the home to investigate. As he walked onto the porch one of the men shot him in the chest with a shotgun, killing him instantly.

The man fled the area but was captured four days later and charged with Constable Rains' murder. He was tried and convicted of murder on three occasions but appealed each time. He was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter at a fourth trial.

Constable Rains was a U.S. Army veteran of the Spanish-American War and had served as the elected constable of the Fifteenth District. He was survived by his father, stepmother, and five brothers.