Patrolman B. Frank Sowell

B. Frank Sowell

Patrolman Frank Sowell was shot and killed following a car chase on US 521 approximately seven miles north of Lancaster.

He and his partner had observed a suspicious vehicle sitting under a light at Main Street and Chesterfield Avenue at 1:30 am. When Patrolman Sowell's partner approached the vehicle and attempted to open the door it sped off. After several miles of pursuing the vehicle, it struck another car and ran off the road.

As Patrolman Sowell approached it he was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun. The suspect fled but was later apprehended and sentenced to life in prison, where died in his 80s. The suspect had earlier escaped from the Caledonia Prison Farm in North Carolina while imprisoned for murder.

Patrolman Sowell was survived by his wife and four children.