Officer Claude Mitchell Earle

Claude Mitchell Earle

Officer C.M. Earle was shot and killed as he and another officer attempted to question a suspicious person on DeSiard Street, between 7th Street and 8th Street. The officers were on foot patrol near the business district when they observed a man run into a shed behind a bank.

They approached the shed with their flashlights and asked what the man was doing, but were met with gunfire. Both officers returned fire but did not strike the suspect because he was concealed behind a crate. The suspect shot at both officers again, striking Officer Earle in the side, before fleeing from the scene.

Officer Earle succumbed to his wound later that night. The suspect was never identified.

Officer Earle had served with the Monroe Police Department for four years. He was survived by his wife and child.