Police Officer Barton Coker

Barton Coker

Police Officer Barton Coker was shot and killed after he and his partner stopped a 21-year-old man and his 18-year-old girlfriend as they exited a lumber yard on McGee Street shortly after midnight.

When the officers approached, the man drew a handgun and opened fire, killing Officer Coker.

Both subjects were apprehended. The man was sentenced to death his sentence was later commuted to 99 years. He was released in December 1950 after Governor Gordon Browning reduced his sentence to 12 years. His girlfriend was sentenced to 21 years but was released after serving only a few months.