Chief of Police B. Edgar Hamrick

B. Edgar Hamrick

Chief of Police Edgar Hamrick was shot and killed at the county jail after arresting four men for being drunk in public.

The men had been arrested shortly after arriving in Shelby on a freight train. They were initially taken to the city lockup but moved to the county jail due to their boisterous behavior. As Chief Hamrick and several others placed them in the cell one of the men continued to yell obscenities at them.

Chief Hamrick re-entered the cell to deal with the subject but one of the other men suddenly produced a pistol and opened fire as he ran for the cell door. Chief Hamrick, the county sheriff, and a jailer were struck by the shots. One of the other officers returned fire and wounded the prisoner.

The man was apprehended and subsequently hung on the court square.

Chief Hamrick was survived by his wife, son, daughter, parents, and seven siblings.