John Ferdinand Bockman

Infobox Person
name = Biographical Details
birth_date = October 31 1891
birth_place = Oconto, Nebraska
death_date = April 28 1924
death_place = Libby, Montana
occupation = After a short stint as Military Police, Chief of Police of Libby.
spouse = Albia Carolyn Sladek (1895-1967)

John Ferdinand Bockman (October 31, 1891 - April 28 1924) was an American police officer, and the only police officer to be killed in the line of duty in the town of Libby, Montana. [http://www.libbypolice.org/lpdp8.htm "Chief of Police Bockman Shot and Instanly Killed While Making Arrest.] "The Western News". Libby, Montana. May 1, 1924] [ [http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=1973 John F. Bockman] - at The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc]

On the evening of Monday, April 28, 1924, a Great Northern Railway employee was shot at by a stranger who had accosted him in the dark rail yard just outside of Libby. This employee, named Hill, managed to escape unharmed and report in town what had happened. Officer Bockman was then called from his home to investigate the disturbance.

When the two of them, Bockman and Hill, drove into the rail yard, Hill pointed the man out, and Officer Bockman got out of the car to confront him. He ordered the man to raise his hands, but the man refused to comply as he backed away from the rays from the car headlights. Hill watched as the two receded into the darkness.

According to Hill, suddenly there were three shots in quick succession, and one man fell dead but it was difficult to make out who it was. Hill returned with a flash light and found Officer Bockman had been hit in the forehead.

He ran back into town to report the shooting to the sheriff's office and in the pool halls, and a posse was quickly gathered to search for the suspect. The suspect was found shot and wounded some 200 yards from where Officer Bockman had been killed. Four pints of moonshine were found on his person, leading the Under Sheriff Sperry to conclude the man had been caught in the act of bootlegging. Illegal at the time due to Prohibition.

The man reportedly had a neck wound from Bockman's bullet, which traveled downward and pierced a lung. He was reportedly bleeding from his mouth and wounds. He spent the night in the Kootenai Valley Hospital then was returned to the Libby jail the following morning for questioning. He claimed Officer Bockman had shot first, but an examination of the guns showed he had four spent shells (one used against Hill, two against Bockman and one against a horse that startled him when the posse was closing in). Officer Bockman had only one spent shell. Beyond that, the man refused to talk and died later that evening.

The identity of the man, who went by the names or "Clark", "Burke" or "Murphy", was a mystery until over fifty years later when G. L. Choate of Bellville, Illinois wrote to "The Western News" of Libby, Montana stating the man's true identity was George Menees York of Robertson County, Tennessee.

Officer Bockman, who was 32 years old at the time, was survived by his widow, Albia, and two sons, John, Jr. (age three) and George (age one). [ [http://www.struggler.org/FatherJohnBockman.html Father John Bockman, Jr.] ] Officer John Ferdinand Bockman is enrolled in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the Montana Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

References

External links

* [http://files.usgwarchives.org/mt/powell/memor/lawmens.txt] - at Montana Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
* [http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=1973 John F. Bockman] - at The Officer Down Memorial Page
* [http://www.nleomf.com/TheMemorial/memorial.htm National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial]