Mayor Stuart McGuire Sutherland

Stuart McGuire Sutherland

Mayor Stuart Sutherland succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained two weeks earlier while attempting to arrest a subject at the Dickenson County fairgrounds on a warrant for fighting.

As Mayor Sutherland arrested him the man jerked free and opened fire, shooting Mayor Sutherland three times before the mayor could return fire. One of the bullets passed through him, fatally wounding another man. The subject fled the scene but was arrested by a former sheriff's deputy who had followed him to his home.

Mayor Sutherland was taken to Sutherland Hospital where he remained until succumbing to his wounds.

The subject was convicted of Mayor Sutherland's murder and sentenced to life in prison.

The Clintwood town charter gave the mayor all the powers and authorities of a justice of the peace of Dickenson County. Mayor Sutherland was survived by his wife and parents.