Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the families of these brave officers.

Correctional Officer Timothy Betts, 51

Indiana Department of Correction

August 26, 2012 – Officer Timothy Betts suffered a fatal heart attack while escorting a combative inmate to isolation. He is survived by his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Corporal Marshall Lee Bailey, 42

West Virginia State Police

August 28, 2012 – Corporal Marshall Bailey and another trooper arrested a suspect for driving under the influence and reckless driving. The two troopers searched the intoxicated suspect and then placed him in the rear of the patrol car, where he retrieved a gun he’d concealed beneath his clothing. He then fatally shot Trooper Bailey and took his service weapon. Thew other trooper, Eric Workman, was severely wounded during the gunfire.

The suspect then got out of the patrol car and shot a tow truck driver who was in the process of removing the suspect’s car from the scene. The wounded tow truck driver managed to call for help.

The suspect ran to a nearby ditch where he hid, waiting to ambush responding officers as they arrived. The first officer on the scene was shot several times. The next officers to arrive returned fire, killing the suspect.

Trooper Bailey is survived by his three children, a brother, and his parents.

Chief of Police Herman Proffitt, 82

Tompkinsville Kentucky Police Department

August 28, 2012 – Chief Herman Proffitt was shot and killed by ambush while walking down his driveway to the mailbox. The shooter was a man Chief Proffitt had arrested multiple times in the past. When the killer was arrested for the shooting of Chief Proffitt, officers found copies of the each of the original arrest papers in his pocket.

Chief Proffitt had been retired since 2009. He’d served 55 years in law enforcement.