By Matthew Lakin, Bristol Herald Courier (Tennessee)
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Police officers and their families never know if a goodbye will be the last.
Most say they try not to think about it.
“You know when you go out that you’re taking that risk, but you don’t think it’s going to happen,” city police Officer Terry Johnson said.
But the deaths can rock families and communities when they happen.
Bristol’s most recent came Saturday night, when Officer Mark Edward Vance, 30, was shot in the face during a domestic violence call at 427 Belmont Drive.
Vance was the city’s fourth officer to die while on duty and the first shot to death in nearly 80 years.
The city’s last officer to die on duty was Jackie Phillips, who was killed Oct. 1, 1988, when his patrol car ran off Anderson Street and hit an embankment.
The last officer shot to death was Clarence Luther Maines, 25, who died after arresting a man who shot him in the side on Oct. 23, 1926.
The city’s only other officer killed on duty was Houston Childers, shot Feb. 7, 1903, on State Street during an argument with a Bristol Virginia police officer.
Police in Bristol Virginia have no records of losing an officer on duty.
Sullivan County has lost seven officers since April 13, 1925, when sheriff’s Deputy Hubert Webb, 54, was shot while trying to arrest a fugitive.
The next came March 30, 1981, when sheriff’s Sgt. Arthur Lane died after being hit by a stolen car.
Nine years later, Deputy Glayton Parker was killed while trying to serve an arrest warrant on May 31, 1990.
One died of a heart attack, Sgt. Roscoe “Bob” Teague, who started having chest pains after fighting with a man on May 30, 1995.
On Nov. 22, 1995, Deputy Steve Mullins was run over by a stolen car.
Since then, two more have died – Deputy Steve Riner and Reserve Officer Barry Shelton – killed in a car crash on Sept. 29, 2001, on their way to a domestic violence call.
Washington County, Va., hasn’t lost an officer since Nov. 7, 1960, when sheriff’s Deputy Orville McNish was shot to death during a standoff with a man holding his children hostage inside his house.
The house caught fire 10 hours into the standoff after deputies fired a tear gas grenade into the house. McNish was trying to put out the fire when he was shot.
The only other record of a county officer’s death there was in the 1800s, when Deputy Lilburn Trigg was reportedly shot off his horse in Abingdon.
According to various records, other area law enforcement officers who died or were killed while on duty include:
Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Sheriff Eulis Breeding, shot while trying to serve papers on Sept. 9, 1964
Deputy Sheriff Arthur Owens, 50, suffered a heart attack while helping with an arrest on June 3, 1975
Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Sheriff Duran Ratliff, 53, shot and killed while making an arrest March 6, 1973
Kingsport Police Department
Patrolman Ira Burgess, 48, shot while responding to a report of a man threatening to kill his wife on June 13, 1950
Patrolman J.M. Carmack, 41, shot by a man accused of disturbing a prayer meeting on June 24, 1919
Patrolman George Frazier, age unknown, who suffered a heart attack after a shootout on May 30, 1938
Patrolman John Mills, 30, shot on Sept. 7, 1940, by two men who escaped from jail
Patrolman John Smith, age unknown, shot and killed while attempting to make an arrest on April 13, 1925
Norton Police Department
Chief of Police Thomas Osborn, shot while arresting a man at a dance on July 16, 1895
Special Policeman Enos Hilton, 37, shot by a man who was trying to free a prisoner on July 26, 1891
Scott County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Ira Skeen, 51, shot while posting an election notice at a grocery store on Dec. 22, 1955
Deputy Ben Sluss, age unavailable, shot in an attack on Jan. 1, 1936
Wise County Sheriff’s Office
Officer Jasper Holmes, 30, shot on Aug. 1, 1916, while trying to arrest a man for fighting
Sgt. Daniel Littrell, 52, shot while investigating bootleggers on Dec. 12, 1920
Big Stone Gap native Allen Gibson Jr., an officer with the Waverly Police Department in Southside Virginia, was gunned down while on patrol in April 1998
Wythe County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Clifford Dicker, 57, shot by a juvenile as he was serving papers on Dec. 6, 1994
Wytheville Police Department
Patrolman Raymond Chapman, age unavailable, and Patrolman Claudius Irvin, 35, killed in a crash while responding to a vehicle accident on Aug. 25, 1963
Chief Walter McClintock, age unavailable, shot on Dec. 19, 1908, as he and other officers tried to arrest two men on robbery charges
FBI
Special Agent Hubert J. Treacy Jr., shot March 13, 1942, while trying to arrest two Army deserters in Abingdon
Tennessee Highway Patrol
Sgt. Paul L. Mooneyham Sr., 42, suffered a heart attack during a murder investigation in Sullivan County on April 4, 1981
Virginia State Police
Trooper Robert Fulton Giles, 24, shot July 23, 1954, while trying to make an arrest in Coeburn