Officer Henry L. Harris is shot and killed in Pioneer Square on July 4, 1911.

HistoryLink.org Essay 3775 : Printer-Friendly Format

On July 4, 1911, Seattle Police Officer Henry L. Harris (1882-1911) is shot and killed in Pioneer Square by an unknown assailant. Investigating officers are hindered by large numbers of intoxicated and antagonistic Fourth of July revelers. The crime is never solved.

Officer Harris was assigned to a fixed post front of the California Tavern at Washington Street and Occidental Avenue. Someone walked up behind him and fired a pistol. The officer was found with a wound below his right ear and he managed to fire two shots of his own before falling. The assailant was observed at the rear entrance to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) hall, but the secretary on duty there denied that anyone had come into the building.

Witnesses described the suspect as "southern European, 35-40 years of age, 5'7", 170#, dark hair, wearing laborer's clothing" (Brasfield). Officer Harris died an hour later at City Hospital.

Sources:
Rae Anna Victor, Century of Honor (Bloomington, IN: 1st Books, 2000), 140-141; Michael D. Brasfield, "An Examination of the Historical and Biographical Material Pertaining to the Violent Deaths Involving Seattle Police Officers (1881-1980)," (Undergraduate thesis, University of Washington Library, 1980), 25.

By Dave Wilma, May 16, 2002

Travel through time (chronological order):
< Browse to Previous Essay | Browse to Next Essay >

Related Topics: Crime |

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.