Deputy Sheriff James Alfred Brent

James Alfred Brent

Deputy Sheriff James Brent was shot and killed when he, the sheriff, and another deputy responded to a domestic disturbance in which the man was threatening people with a shotgun.

Deputies had obtained a lunacy warrant and were attempting to serve it when Deputy Brent was struck by a shotgun blast as he entered the residence in the Morattico section of the county.

Deputy Brent was attempting to serve a lunacy warrant in the tiny fishing village of Morattico when he was shot. Three hours later, state and county officers apprehended the suspect after he was flushed out of his home with tear gas.

The suspect, 41, was a former mental patient released two years earlier. He was charged with murder and sent to a mental hospital in Petersburg to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

Deputy Brent was a United States Army veteran of World War II and had served with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office for three years. He was survived by his wife, stepchildren, and mother.

He is buried at the White Marsh Methodist Church Cemetery, Lancaster, Lancaster County, Virginia.