PCSO to unveil monument to fallen officers

Jan. 4—The Pontotoc County Sheriff's Office will hold a brief ceremony on Tuesday, January 9, to unveil a monument at the sheriff's office, 117 W. 13th St., Ada.

The event will be held at 2 p.m., and everyone is welcome to attend.

"Many of the citizens of Pontotoc County are unaware of those who have given their lives in service to their fellow citizens while protecting and serving our community," Sheriff John Christian said in a press release. "In our county, there have been two officers from the Ada Police Department, one from the Allen Police Department, one from the Roff Police Department, and six from the Pontotoc County Sheriff's Office."

Christian said for several years, the Pontotoc County Sheriff's Office has been working towards a monument to serve as a lasting tribute to those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

"On Tuesday, it will be unveiled and dedicated as such," Christian said. "The sacrifices of these men and their contributions to our community, should never be forgotten. It's not how these men died that made them heroes, it's how they lived and served. We would like to express our gratitude to Ada Custom Memorials and the Anderson Family, who made this possible."

The following are those from the sheriff's office who lost their lives in the line of duty:

Deputy Francis "Frank"

Marion Hatcher

On July 22, 1909, Deputy Sheriff Francis Hatcher was assigned to keep peace at a picnic south of Ada on Jack Fork Creek. A subject pulled a knife on Deputy Hatcher and as the deputy was drawing his gun, Hatcher was shot by another subject.

Hatcher was carried to a nearby house, where a doctor was summoned, but Hatcher died around 6 a.m. the following morning. Deputy Hatcher was 27 years old.

Sheriff Lemuel "Lem"

English Mitchell

Lem Mitchell had served as a deputy U.S. marshal in Oklahoma Territory and as city marshal of Ada before being elected to two terms as sheriff of Pontotoc County. Just before noon on Tuesday, February 10, 1914, Sheriff Mitchell was returning to Ada by train after taking some prisoners to the state prison in McAlester. At Tupelo, his connecting train was already starting to move when Mitchell arrived at the station. He attempted to board it but slipped and was thrown beneath the car, crushing his left leg. A local doctor tried to save his life by amputating his leg, but he died about 6 p.m. Mitchell was 62 years old, survived by his wife and daughter.

Deputy Peter Gus Nebhut

At about 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 10, 1921, several officers from Ada and Pontotoc County surrounded the Byrd Hotel in Ada in an attempt to arrest a moonshiner. The suspect ran to the back door of the hotel, where he was met by Deputy Gus Nebhut. The two men struggled and the deputy was shot. Nebhut fired three shots at the suspect as he fled. Nebhut, having been shot twice, then collapsed. The suspect was arrested soon after that with bullet wounds. Nebhut died the next morning, March 11, 1921. Deputy Nebhut was 42 years old, survived by his wife and four children.

Deputy John Howard Fowler

On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 18, 1931, Deputy John Fowler became involved in a pursuit with a suspect driving a stolen car from Fitzhugh to Ada.

Near the Springbrook bottoms, the suspect pulled into a driveway. As Fowler approached the stopped vehicle, he was shot in the intestines and broke his left arm in two places. Fowler returned one shot and died the next evening, November 19, 1931. Deputy Fowler was 45 years old, survived by his wife and eight children.

Deputy George Alvis Jones

On Friday, January 29, 1937, Pontotoc County Sheriff's Deputies Alvis Jones, Charley Shockley, and Deputy U.S. Marshal Allen Stanfield stopped a car near Hayes School, then east of Ada, searching for the suspect in an armed robbery that occurred in McAlester.

As Deputy Stanfield was searching the car, the driver opened fire on the officers with a pistol, shooting through his pocket. Deputy Stanfield was wounded and Deputy Jones, 38, was hit in the left side, the bullet fatally puncturing his aorta.

The suspect then drove off with officers firing at him. He was arrested the next morning near his bullet-riddled car one mile south of Stringtown, wounded in the left hand and the tip of his nose had been shot off by the officers' bullets the day before. He was a runaway from St. Louis and said he just, "wanted some excitement." Deputy Jones was 38 years old, had been a deputy for four years, and was survived by his wife Juanita.

Detention Officer Kenneth Fowler

Detention Officer Kenneth Fowler sustained injuries on January 31, 2023, when he slipped on ice and fell in the parking lot of the Pontotoc County Justice Center during an ice storm. He was transported to a hospital in Oklahoma City, suffering from head injuries and hypothermia. He remained in a medically induced coma until succumbing to his injuries on February 19, 2023. Detention Officer Fowler was 52 years old, survived by his wife, daughter, mother, brother, sister and two grandchildren.