James McNamee  (1890-1930)

The first Bristol police officer killed in the line of duty was a ten year veteran of the force, thirty-nine year old James McNamee. During his era of service, standard police arrest procedures were not yet in existence, and as a result, a routine mistake cost him his life.

On the night of January 16, 1930, Officer McNamee received a report to be on the lookout for a stolen car. As he walked his beat, he entered the intersection of Washington Street and Stafford Avenue where he noticed a suspicious car gassing up at the Ebb Brother’s filling station. The vehicle was occupied by four nervous teenagers, who earlier in the day had stolen the car and robbed a gas station in Cheshire. "Who owns the car boys?" asked the officer. "It belongs to my father," was the reply from one of the four young men. "Well, I have a complaint about this car so I will have to take you to the station." said the patrolman. The officer then tried to commandeer the vehicle and it’s four passengers when a shot rang out. James Brophy, a backseat passenger, fired a single shot into the back of the policeman with a .38 caliber pistol.

McNamee fell to the ground and the car sped off. "Boys, I’m done for," he told the Ebb brothers .The two gas station attendants carried the stricken officer inside and called an ambulance. He lived long enough for Chief Belden to rush to his side at the Bristol Hospital. "Chief, they got me this time, " said the wounded officer. Several years earlier, Officer McNamee had single handedly captured three burglars robbing a store next to the gas station where his shooting occurred. He arrested and held all three captive until more police arrived, but this time around, the luck of the Irish was not with him.

At the time, this event prompted the largest police manhunt in Connecticut State history. A few tips led the law enforcement effort to the wooded area outside of Waterbury. Two gunfights ensued, and a state police officer was wounded before the triggerman, James Brophy, age nineteen, and the other three accomplices were apprehended. Brophy was convicted of second degree manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison. The other three men involved with the crime were all convicted of manslaughter.

Officer McNamee, who was single, left behind a mother and several siblings. He was an Irish immigrant and a decorated World War 1 Veteran. One of his obituaries stated, "Officer McNamee was very popular with all who knew him. His usual smile, his quite and cheerful disposition, made him a host of friends. His quiet demeanor, his fearlessness in danger earned him the confidence of his superiors and his fellow townsmen."

The above story was submitted by Daniel McNamee of  Brooklyn, NY.  June 01, 2001.
(Grand-Nephew of James McNamee)
 

*Below is an additional historical transcript from a newspaper feature:   

Officer McNamee was born in Ireland on May 4, 1890, coming to this country as a young man. He enlisted at the time of World War I, serving in France with A.E.F. and was wounded in battle. After the war was over he came to this area and became an employee of Sessions Clock Company. He resided at the Donahue Home on Pine Street. When the second taxing district was created in Forestville, and a police patrol put into that section, James McNamee was sworn as a patrolman on Feb. 9, 1920 by Mayor Joseph F. Dutton, replacing an officer who resigned. It wasn’t long before Officer McNamee’s smile and his quiet and cheerful disposition befriended may. His quiet demeanor and his fearlessness in any danger earned the confidence of his fellow officers and superiors. With Officer McNamee on the job every night in Forestville, the residents felt safe.

On one occasion officer McNamee discovered burglars in the Anderson & Bloom Store. Entering the building he caught three burglars in the cellar and placed them under arrest.

It was Thursday night, Jan. 16, 1930. The night was cold enough for snow, but immaterial to the tragedy that was about to occur. Officer James McNamee had just checked in with Chief Guckin at Headquarters and was told to be on alert for a Franklin sedan bearing the Connecticut marker 23,786 that was stolen from Dr. William T. Morresey of New Britain. As he continued on his beat and approached the junction of Washington Street and Stafford Avenue he saw the car at the Ebb filling station. Approaching the driver to ask who owned the car, the youth replied that it belonged to his father. Officer McNamee stated there was a complaint about the car and he would have to take them to the station. As he made a motion to get into the car, the occupant in the rear seat, John Brophy, 19 fired a shot and officer McNamee fell to the ground. The auto made a hurried get away from the scene.

Carl and John Ebb picked up officer McNamee, carried him into the filling station and called police headquarters. Upon arrival at Bristol Hospital Dr. Whipple did all he could for the wounded policeman. Officer McNamee died at 9:45 p.m. that evening and became the city’s first policeman to be slain in the line of duty.

Immediately, Chief Belden and Captain Guckin worked to send dispatched officers to the various main arteries for the city. Captain Guckin broadcast the shooting, with its meager description, over the Teletype. Police departments in nearby towns where phoned as well as the state police notified. The New Britain police joined local officers. Word from the Cheshire police reported a robbery that occurred a half-hour before the shooting here. It was believed that these were the same men.

The following day Bernhardt Schrager, William Slade, Allen Norton, Kenneth Gallagher and Henry Schrager were arrested. The police in four towns and the state police organized a manhunt to look for John Brophy, centering their attention to the Waterbury area, because the Franklin sedan was found on Cherry Street in Waterbury the next morning. Cornered in a barn, a gun battle with more than 20 shots being fired made it possible for Brophy to escape into the woods. He was then seen after dark and after another shooting episode he surrendered when his gun was empty.

Eventually John Brophy was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. His accomplices were convicted of lesser charges and sentenced. Before Chief Belden’s retirement, he would preside over the death of patrolman James Burns, Bristol’s second slain policeman.

His mother, two sisters and three brothers survived James McNamee. He was waked at the Donahue Home before being taken to Westfield, Mass., to the home of his sister-in-law. A delegation of police acted as escorts and bearers on the removal of the body to Westfield. They also served as bearers at his funeral, which took place at St. Mary’s Church, followed by interment at Westfield’s St. Mary’s Cemetery.