Police Officer Thomas George Timmons

Thomas George Timmons

Police Officer Thomas Timmons was shot and killed while questioning a burglary suspect.

At approximately 10:00 pm a male suspect entered Bell & Company Grocery located at Railroad Avenue and Harper Street and demanded money from the cash register. The suspect was armed with a .45 caliber handgun and stole $15.00 in cash. Following the robbery, the suspect fled on foot and was pursued by a store clerk who was also armed with a handgun.

While the clerk was pursuing the suspect, Officer Timmons was riding by on his police motorcycle and also began pursuing the suspect. As Officer Timmons approached the suspect, the man turned and shot him in the chest at close range. The store clerk fired at the suspect but missed. The suspect then escaped in a waiting vehicle. Officer Timmons was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Following an investigation, authorities identified the suspect, whose identity was confirmed by the store clerk, as the person who robbed the grocery store and shot Officer Timmons. The suspect was apprehended by detectives.

The suspect, 28, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. He escaped on April 10, 1936, and was captured in Los Angeles, California, in 1939. He was returned to Georgia and confined in Tattnall Prison, where he escaped again on January 16, 1940. On March 30, 1940, he was shot and critically wounded when he attempted to hold up a grocery store in Phenix City, Alabama. He died six days later.

Officer Timmons was a United States Army WWI veteran and had served with the Augusta Police Department for approximately five years. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.