Detective Charles George

Incident Details:

Acting-Detective Charles George was shot and killed on June 8, 1936 while attempting to apprehend a burglary suspect in the 1700 block of N. 4th Street. The suspect was seen by a police officer earlier in the night jumping out of a window with a cash box at a filling station in the 2900 block of W. Fond du Lac Avenue. The officer gave chase but was outdistanced. Upon returning to the filling station to investigate, the officer noticed a car parked nearby and called headquarters to report the license plate.

Detective George and his partner were assigned the case. They looked up the owner of the car and went to the St. Paul Ave. address listed to investigate. The suspect was not home so they hid under the porch and waited. About an hour later the suspect came home. They attempted to arrest him but he was again able to sprint away. Detective George’s partner recognized the man as someone he had seen coming out of a home on 4th Street.

It was after 3 a.m. and half an hour after quitting time, but George was not ready to give up. They went to the 4th Street address. The women in the home denied that anyone else was in the house. When the officers walked through, they found another man asleep in a bedroom. His presence aroused their suspicion and they renewed their questioning of the women. Finally, one woman admitted the man was hiding in the house.

As Detective George opened the front room closet door, a shot rang out and the bullet penetrated his heart. Detective George fell backwards into his partner's arms as another shot rang out. The suspect’s body tumbled out of the closet. Both men died at the scene.

Detective George was 38 years old and had been with the department for six years. Before coming to Milwaukee he was Chief of Police in Rice Lake. He left behind a wife, Agnes and son Donald, 14.

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