Deputy Sheriff Henry Creighton Pointel

Henry Creighton Pointel

Deputy Sheriff Creighton Pointel was shot and killed while serving a warrant at the home and store of a suspected bootlegger on Central Avenue four miles south of Summerville.

When Deputy Pointel arrived at the store around noon, the suspect asked for time so his wife could get dressed and post bond. The suspect went upstairs and shot Deputy Pointel from the upstairs window. Deputy Pointel had not drawn his weapon.

Deputy Pointel was transported to Summerville Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

After the suspect's initial statement that he shot the deputy in self-defense, he confessed to killing Deputy Pointel. He was convicted of murder, which carried a mandatory life sentence, but his sentence was commuted in 1938, and he was released from prison.

Deputy Pointel was a United States Army WWI veteran and had served with the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office for at least four years. He was survived by his father, sister, and brother.