Officer Alexander G. Grant

Alexander G. Grant

Officer Alexander Grant was shot and killed by a suspect he had just arrested for public drunkenness and disturbing the peace on Folsom Street, between 4th and 5th Streets. The suspect resisted arrest and at some point drew a gun and shot Officer Grant one time in the head, killing him.

The suspect was Maurice B. Curtis, a famous San Francisco actor. In 1893 after four trials, two hung juries, and one dismissal, he was acquitted. A few weeks later a prominent politician and a California State Senator was arrested for bribing four members of the jury. Curtis spent most of his fortune to gain his freedom and his acting career was ruined. On December 29, 1920, he died in Los Angeles, having ended his days a pauper.

Officer Grant was a member of the 17th and Howard Street Station, Company B, Second Division and was a member of the Knights Templar Freemasons. He was buried at the Masonic Cemetery of San Francisco which no longer exists and it is thought that his remains are now in an unknown grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California.

In 1902 Officer Grant's photograph was installed at the San Francisco Police Headquarters, along with four other officers killed in the line of duty, where it was displayed until the California earthquake of 1906 when all of the portraits were lost.