Deputy Sheriff Robert L. Ferguson

Robert L. Ferguson

Deputy Sheriff Robert Ferguson was shot and killed while trying to arrest a person on a warrant.

At approximately 1:30 pm, Deputy Sheriff Ferguson and another deputy went to serve a warrant for illicit liquor dealing along the banks of the Mississippi River. They noticed the subject in a small boat along the shoreline, having just come across the Mississippi River from the Tennessee side. The subject refused to go with the deputies. As Deputy Ferguson was getting onto the boat, the subject opened fire and struck him. He fell off the side of the boat and into the river. The other deputy returned fire but missed. He was shot in the jaw and survived his wounds.

The subject fled to the Tennessee side of the river. It was reported by the deputy that Deputy Ferguson was holding onto a rope attached to the boat. The suspect used an oar to make him release his grip on the rope. Deputy Ferguson drifted down the river before going under. It would be a couple of weeks before his body was found.

The subject was captured in Tennessee to be extradited to Arkansas. Due to safety concerns for the subject, the Arkansas governor sent about a dozen National Guard soldiers to escort him to Mississippi County. He was found guilty of murder and publicly executed by hanging.

Deputy Ferguson was survived by his wife and daughter.