Detective Sergeant Gene Tilford Nash

Gene Tilford Nash

Detective Sergeant Nash was shot and killed in a gunfight with two robbery suspects.

He was hit five times as he and his partner entered an apartment where the suspects were hiding. The officers managed to return fire, critically wounding one suspect and seriously wounding the other.

On October 23, 1959, one suspect, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to five years to life. The other suspect, 29, was acquitted of murder but convicted of robbery. Because of the conviction and several other robbery convictions, he was adjudged a habitual criminal and sentenced to life.

Detective Nash was a WWII and Korean War veteran and had served with the Los Angeles Police Department for 10 years. He was survived by his wife and 2-year-old daughter.