Remember and Honor LAPD Policeman Robert V. Murray

We Remember and Honor LAPD Policeman Robert V. Murray, End of Watch (EOW) September 24, 1914, Gunfire

Policeman Robert V. Murray

On the night of September 23, 1914, a man named Joseph Melville contacted LAPD Policeman Robert V. Murray and told him of a disturbance at 129 Carr Street. It is likely the facts related to Officer Murray by Mr. Melville may have been less than truthful as they tragically led to his death. Apparently, a short time before Melville’s encounter with young Officer Murray, he allegedly threatened the life of Mrs. Anna Vail at the Carr Street address. She summoned a neighbor, Mr. John J. Herman, who ordered Melville to leave the property. It is at this time Melville contacted Officer Murray. 

When Murray went to Mrs. Vail’s house he approached the window outside her residence where Mr. Herman and Mr. Melville had their confrontation. At this point Herman, fearing Melville had returned to do him and Mrs. Vail harm, fired one shot from a handgun out the window and struck Officer Murray in the stomach. Murry was rushed to a hospital but died the next day.

Despite Mr. Herman’s claim he believed he fired his gun in self-defense in fear of Melville, and Mrs. Carr’s support of his story, he was held over for trial on October 7. On December 27, 1914, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years in Folsom Prison.

Officer Murray, just a five-week veteran of the LAPD, was survived by his wife.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Herald