Deputy Sheriff John Holmes

John Holmes

Deputy Holmes was shot and killed while making his nightly rounds in National, Nevada. He encountered an intoxicated man terrorizing citizens with a rifle. As he attempted to disarm and arrest the man he was shot in the chest.

The Humboldt County Sheriff was notified of the incident the next morning and immediately drove to National and arrested the suspect. He returned the suspect to Winnemucca due to threats of a lynching by the citizens of National.

The suspect was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. In July of 1912 he escaped form the Nevada Penitentiary. He was captured in Kingman, Arizona, in January of 1913. He was paroled in 1918. On March 5, 1919, he was killed instantly when he got his arm caught in an engine he was working on.

Deputy Holmes was the only law enforcement officer in the area of National.