Sheriff
William VanCamp
Franklin County Sheriff's Department
Monday, August 20, 1923

Age: 34
Served: 2 years, 7 months
Badge #:
Panel 23W, Line 2
Panel L32, Line 11

Incident Details

Cause of Death:
Gunfire
Date/Time of Incident:
Monday, August 20, 1923
01:00 am
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
Lovers Lane Road south of Sleepy Hollow Road
Incident County:
Franklin
Incident Township:
Springfield
Weapon Used:
.45-caliber handgun
Suspect Disposition:
• Died while in custody
• Charged
Burial Place:
Maple Grove Cemetery, Brookville

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   Sheriff William VanCamp was shot and killed while investigating two suspicious men near Schultz woods northwest of Mount Carmel.

   A farmer had reported the men were sitting in a vehicle and when Sheriff VanCamp went to investigate, he was shot before the suspects fled the area heading east.

   On September 4, they robbed the Farmers National Bank in Greenville, Ohio.

   State authorities refused to extradite both offenders, a 25-year-old who had previously been a Springfield police officer and a 36-year-old, who were each later sentenced for armed robbery to 25 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary.

   In 1939, Indiana was not notified of their release but were indicted for murder in Franklin County. One suspect was apprehended in Springfield, Ohio, while the other suspect was shot during his arrest in Wheeling, West Virginia. He died from his wounds in the Franklin County Jail after both were returned to the state.

   Sheriff VanCamp, a Republican from Brookville, was in the first year of his second, two-year term in office as the 28th sheriff of Franklin County. He was survived by his wife, brother and sister.

Military Service


United States Army
World War I

Historical Note

• Sheriff VanCamp is the third-youngest of the 21 sheriffs with line of duty deaths in Indiana.



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Sheriff William VanCamp - Franklin County Sheriff's Department - INLEM.org