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William
REYNOLDS
Classification: Mass murderer
Characteristics:
Deadliest
incident in Alabama law enforcement history
Number of victims: 7
Date of murders:
April 6, 1902
Date of birth:
????
Victims profile:
Sheriff Charles Gassaway, 33 / Deputy William Gassaway, brother of
Charles Gassaway / Deputy Jesse Davis / Deputy James Payne /
Deputy Pat A. Prout / Deputy Bob Wallace / Hugh Jones
Method of murder:
Shooting (.45 caliber
Winchester rifle)
Location: Tuscumbia,
Alabama,
USA
Status:
Reynolds was burned to death in his own house after being
fatally shot the same day
William "Will" Reynolds was an American mass
murderer who shot nine people, seven of them fatally, in Tuscumbia,
Alabama, United States on April 6, 1902, before being shot dead
himself.
With the sheriff and five deputies of the Colbert County Sheriff's
Department among those killed this was the deadliest incident in
Alabama law enforcement history.
Victims
Sheriff Charles Gassaway, 33
Deputy William Gassaway, brother of Charles Gassaway
Deputy Jesse Davis
Deputy James Payne
Deputy Pat A. Prout
Deputy Bob Wallace
Hugh Jones
Those wounded were: James Finney and Bob Patterson.
Wikipedia.org
Sheriff Charles Gassaway
Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
End of Watch: Sunday, April 6, 1902
Sheriff Charles Gassaway and five Colbert County
deputies were shot and killed when the sheriff attempted to arrest a
suspect for obtaining goods under false pretenses. The suspect
informed the sheriff that he would be ready to go in a moment but
arrived at the door with a Winchester rifle. The suspect immediately
shot Sheriff Gassaway, who was in the doorway, and the sheriff's
brother, Deputy William Gassaway, who was standing a distance away.
The suspect then barricaded himself in the house as
other deputies arrived at the scene. Firing from inside the house, the
suspect shot and mortally wounded Deputy Bob Wallace, Deputy Pat Prout,
Deputy James Payne, and Deputy Jesse Davis.
The suspect was eventually shot and killed after
members of the the Alabama state militia, known as the Wheeler Rifles,
shot over 1,000 rounds at the suspect. The suspect's body was then
thrown into his burning house, that had been set on fire in an attempt
to smoke him out.