MOUNT VERNON — A piece of Knox County history was permanently memorialized by the state of Ohio last week.
The name of former Knox County Sheriff James C. Shellenbarger, who was shot in the line of duty and died in 1905, was added to the Ohio Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial during a ceremony at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy on Thursday. Knox County Sheriff David Barber and Deputy Scott Baker joined law enforcement officers and families of slain officers at the ceremony on the academy grounds in London.
On May 31, 1905, Shellenbarger and one of his deputies attempted to arrest a male subject following an assault at a residence on what is now known as Airport Road. The subject, Frank Coile, refused to be taken into custody, and shot and critically wounded Shellenbarger. The sheriff never recovered from his wounds, and died on Oct. 5, 1905. Coile was arrested, tried and sent to prison.
In 2002, Barber and Baker attended the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial ceremony, where Shellenbarger’s name was added to the National Memorial in Washington, D.C. A memorial plaque honoring him also hangs in the entryway of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office on Upper Gilchrist Road.
Barber said he and Baker were honored to represent Knox County during the ceremony, which also honored the seven Ohio law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty in 2007, whose names were also added to the memorial wall.
