Reserve Officer Bill Sutherlin was shot and killed after locating a fugitive who was the focus of a police manhunt.

Officer Sutherlin and several other officers went to the aid of a state trooper who had a suspected car thief trapped in a corn field. Officer Sutherlin had radioed for help saying the suspect was holding a gun on him. Minutes later when the suspect was captured he told where Officer Sutherlin’s body could be found. He had been shot through the head.

Officer Sutherlin was a veteran of WWII and had served as a volunteer reserve officer with the Fairfield Police Department for six years.