Officer Edward McConnell

Edward McConnell

Officer Edward McConnell succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained four days earlier at the intersection of South Main Street (modern-day Hendersonville Road) and McDowell Street while transporting a prisoner.

The man had been arrested for stealing two cows from Hendersonville. A citizen was driving Officer McConnell and the prisoner to the jail when the prisoner suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Officer McConnell.

On November 4, 1912, the suspect was captured in Atlanta, Georgia, by the Anderson County sheriff and a Fulton County deputy. He was returned to Asheville where he was charged with first-degree murder and placed in the Buncombe County Jail. He was later tried and acquitted of Officer McConnell's murder.

Officer McConnell had served with the Asheville Police Department for four years. He was survived by his wife and two children.