Chief of Police George England

George England

Chief of Police George England was shot and killed in retaliation for a shooting death that took place nearly seven years earlier.

Shortly after midnight, Chief England was leaving a restaurant in Coalgate, where he stopped to have a meal while on duty. As he left the restaurant, a suspect ambushed him, shooting him five times with a .44 caliber handgun.

The shooting was retaliation for the shooting death of the suspect's half-brother that took place in December 1903. The half-brother was once a U.S. Marshal who was fired for misconduct. He was then elected city marshal of Colgate, and George England served under him as his deputy. In December 1903, the city council removed the city marshal from office for reasons of malfeasance and dereliction of duty. Chief England was appointed to take over as city marshal. Over the next couple of weeks, the fired marshal threatened Chief England's life. It resulted in Chief England shooting and killing the ex-marshal that he once worked for. The shooting was ruled self-defense, and Chief England continued to serve as city marshal.

Immediately after the shooting death of Chief England, the suspect surrendered and was charged with murder. The following year, he was acquitted.

After Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907 and Coalgate became the county seat of Coal County, City Marshal England became Chief of Police. At the time of his death, he was the Democratic nominee for Sheriff of Coal County. He was survived by his wife.