Constable Coleman Boyd McAteer

Coleman Boyd McAteer

Constable Coleman McAteer was shot and killed while assisting a county deputy arrest a man wanted for murdering two men in Union County, North Carolina.

The officers located the man's car on SC 200, approximately three miles north of Lancaster. As they pulled alongside it, the man opened fire on them, striking the constable in the chest and the deputy in the hand. Despite their wounds, both officers were able to return fire and struck the suspect several times. As a result of his wounds, the deputy's hand had to be amputated.

The 32-year-old suspect, who was a former police officer in Waxhaw, North Carolina, was arrested and charged with murder. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on February 24, 1948.

Constable McAteer had served as a military policeman guarding German POWs during WWII. He was survived by his fiancée.