1960's  Line Of Duty Deaths

Both officer and K9 were killed in line of duty

 

Patrolman Fortye, 32, was shot and killed at 0220 hours on October 28, 1966  with his own weapon after conducting a traffic stop on Highland Drive.  During the stop the suspect began to struggle with Patrolman Fortye and was able to gain control of his weapon and shot him three times. The first officers to arrive found Officer Fortye lying alongside his patrol car, and his K-9 partner “Burgie” standing faithfully by his side. Before the killer fled, however, Fortye's police dog "Burgie" attacked the suspect, ripping the man's clothing and mauling his hand.  Patrolman Fortye had been with the Las Vegas Police Department in Nevada for five years and was survived by his wife and six year old daughter.

The suspect was later apprehended a short time after as a result of the dog bite.

 

K9 Officer Yoakum, 31, was shot and killed on September 27, 1964 while responding to a call of unknown trouble at an apartment complex on Seay Street at 1:30 a.m.  He was shot in the chest with a 38 caliber revolver by Fred C. Stull, 23, of 2906 Seay Street.  The sequence of events leading to Yoakum’s death and the death of Stull from shots fired by privates David Largen and Earl Caknipe began with a “trouble call” to Alexandria Police Headquarters at 1:28 a.m. from a man who identified himself as Leroy David Beasley of 2905 Seay Street, and said that Stull had “gone berserk” and beat him unconscious.  The dispatcher at the police headquarters alerted Largen who was cruising in the area.  Largen said that when he arrived at 2906 Seay Street, Stull, armed with a revolver, was standing in the doorway of the apartment building. When he ordered Stull to drop the weapon, Stull threatened to shoot and was prevented from doing so by Dennis Perry of 2902 Seay Street, who grabbed his arm and tussled with him.  Largen returned to his cruiser to call for reinforcements, and was joined within minutes by Yoakum and Catnipe.  Stull, Largen said, was in the doorway, brandishing a knife which he was holding in his left hand.  He and Yoakum were near the curb, 20 feet from the front of the apartment Largen said, and Catnipe began to approach Stull, telling him to throw down the knife.  Instead of discarding the weapon, Stull brought his right hand from behind him and began firing.  One of the shots struck Yoakum in the chest.  Largen and Catnipe returned the fire and Stull fell dead in the doorway of his home. Mucho watched over his fatally injured partner until Private Yoakum was taken to Alexandria Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 2:20 a.m. Mucho was later given to the Yoakum family.  The week before Stull was charged by Fairfax County Police with being drunk in public and with assaulting an officer in the booking room at the Groveton Sub-station.   K-9 Officer Yoakum attracted world-wide attention to himself and his K-9 “Mucho”, when he strapped a receiving set to the dog’s harness and trained him to respond to commands via walkie-talkie. In his first year, Private Yoakum was cited for his bravery in a shoot-out with supermarket burglars. In 1960, he joined the Canine Corps. Eugene served in the Marine Corps from 1950 to 1954. Private Yoakum had been with the Alexandria Police Department in Virginia for ten years and is survived by his wife Elizabeth Marie Yoakum; daughters Marian and Sharon and a son Tyron Yoakum.

   

Officer McCulloch, 37, was shot and killed on July 2, 1964 after responding to a manhunt.  At approximately 6:30 p.m.  Marilyn Morris was in her vehicle in front of Food Fair Super Market located at 814 North Leffingwell who was waiting for her mother who owned the store to drive her home. While she was waiting, Eddie C. Glenn jumped into the vehicle displaying a knife and told her to drive. Glenn had forced her to drive around the northern part of the city for an hour. While she drove he went through her pocket book which only had $4.00 and took her diamond ring off her finger.. While driving around for the entire time she tried to get people's attention to notify them of the situation she was in.  However she did draw the attention of Officer Robert Steel who pulled the car over at Twentieth Street and Carr. As he approached the vehicle on the drivers side Marilyn Morris made her escape and ran. Officer Steel drew his revolver and aimed it at Glenn and told him to exit the vehicle. Glenn then lunged at Officer Steel and Officer Steel shot Glenn in the shoulder. Glenn then grabbed Officer Steel's weapon with both hands and prevented the cylinder from turning. A struggle ensued and Glenn was able to gain control of Officer Steel's weapon. Officer Steel ran to his cruiser and Glenn fired two shots at him. While Officer Steel was using his radio to call for help, Glenn had disappeared in the Pruitt-igoe Housing Project. Officer Steel collapsed in the road after calling for help on his radio. Patrolman Ronald Pott and Ralph Atkins responded to Officer Steel's call for help. They saw Officer Steel covered in blood so Patrolman Atkins stayed with Officer Steel while Officer Pott went after Glenn.  Officer Steel was not seriously injured in the scuffle. Officer Pott exchanged shots with Glenn while chasing him between buildings. Canine Officer Paul McCulloch who was on his way to work arrived on the scene a short time later. Officer McCulloch and Officer Pott decided to circle the building from different sides to try and capture Glenn. Officer Pott then heard a gun shot a short time after and when he went around the corner of the building he came face to face with Glenn and they fired simultaneously. Officer Pott was shot through his left forearm and the bullet ricocheted off his badge and struck his right hand. Officer Pott dropped his revolver but was able to shoot Glenn in the chest before he dropped his weapon. Glenn staggering, continued to run between the buildings. Officer Pott ran to Officer McCulloch's cruiser and radioed for more help. Detective Dan Kirner who saw Officer Pott and Glenn exchange shots fired six shots at Glenn. Officer Arthur Mueller and officer Miller also started firing at Glenn who then fell to the ground and was arrested immediately. When Detectives Vernon Brinkman and George Hydar arrived on the scene they discovered Canine Officer McCulloch bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head. Officer McCulloch was dead on arrival at City Hospital # 1. McCulloch joined the department October 31, 1949. In 1950 he resigned from the police department to join the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and in 1951 returned back to the police department. Officer McCulloch joined the canine unit in 1959. He is survived by his wife Anne and four children. Later his wife Anne worked for the same police department as a secretary and his son Joseph joined the police department.    

Eddie Glenn was shot and wounded by other officers before being taken into custody. He admitted to the kidnapping of Marilyn Morris and shooting at police.

 

Steed , 36, went through South Norfolk's first dog school and became a K-9 handler.  On June 7, 1962, at approximately 12:10 AM, Officer Steed, age 36,  was finishing his night's duty. As he approached the intersection of Liberty Street and Atlantic Avenue, he was met by an oncoming vehicle racing towards them at speeds up to 95 miles per hour. The driver of the vehicle, a 20 year old male, was absent without leave from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Norfolk Police had been following the suspect for 4 - 1/2 miles. The suspect, in an attempt to escape from Norfolk Police, approached the intersection, lost control of his vehicle and struck the police vehicle containing Officer Steed.  Detective Steed was pronounced dead at Norfolk General Hospital four hours after the head on crash.    Officer Steed was with the City of South Norfolk Police Department in Virginia for 3 years and was survived by his wife Marjorie, his daughter Cecelia,13, and son Chris age 10.

The suspect was charged with manslaughter, hit and run, reckless driving, driving without a registration card and driving without a license.

   

 

Sergeant Carmin "Fussy" Fuscellaro, 34, was accidentally shot and killed February 4, 1961 by another officer when he was mistaken for an escaped prisoner.  Sergeant Fuscellaro and his canine partner were searching City Hall when the other officer shot him. At the time of the shooting, canine officers and the inmates wore the same type of coveralls.  Sgt. Fuscellaro had been with the Camden Police Department in New Jersey for 12 years and was survived by his wife.