Deputy Constable Robert William Mason, Jr.

Robert William Mason, Jr.

Deputy Constable Robert Mason was shot and killed at the Continental Number 3 mine, in Georges Township, while conducting a gambling raid at a home with members of the Pennsylvania State Police, Coal and Iron Police, and detectives with the Fayette County District Attorney's Office.

While making entry into a hallway a subject opened fire from the living room, striking a trooper in the shoulder. Deputy Constable Mason, who was positioned in the backyard at the kitchen door, was shot in the stomach as the same subject was trying to escape. The man then opened fire on a Coal and Iron police officer positioned on the side of the house, striking him in the arm. All three officers were taken to Uniontown Hospital where Deputy Constable Mason succumbed to his wound shortly after arrival. The other officers survived their wounds.

The man who killed Deputy Constable Mason fled to Rock Forge, West Virginia, where he was severely wounded by local law enforcement. He became paralyzed from waist down while making an escape through a roof of a home he was staying at. He was brought to back to Pennsylvania for treatment and to be tried.

On December 24th, 1924, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. He was executed by electrocution at Rockview Penitentiary on October 12th, 1925.

Deputy Constable Mason was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Pennsylvania State Constable - Fayette County for two years. He was survived by his parents.