HIGH SHERIFF JOHN COOK
John Cook, the seventeenth High Sheriff of Mecklenburg County was elected in July of 1804.1 According to an article published in The Carolina Gazette, High Sheriff Cook was murdered while executing the duties of his office after serving less than three months. On Tuesday October 16th High Sheriff Cook was shot in the head by Thomas Jarrel, who was approximately 22 years old. After the shooting, Jarrel fled Mecklenburg and became a fugitive. It is not known if he was ever found or brought to justice.2
DEPUTY EDMUND VANCE THOMAS, JR.
On May 21, 1985, Edmund Vance Thomas, Jr., a 42-year-old Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sheriff died of a heart attack while chasing a probation violator wanted for arrest.
Deputy Thomas had driven to a local trailer park looking for the suspect. He checked off the air with the dispatcher and left his vehicle. The suspect was standing outside a neighbor’s trailer and when told he was under arrest, the suspect ran. Thomas gave chase for approximately 500 feet. Upon reaching the suspect, Deputy Thomas fell backward of a heart attack. He was pronounced dead at Charlotte Memorial Hospital.
Deputy Thomas was a 1961 graduate of Harding High School and a Navy veteran. He is survived by a son and daughter.
CAPTAIN ANTHONY STANCIL
On September 29, 1998, Captain Anthony Stancil was working at an off-duty assignment, providing security for a local grocery store.
Shortly after 1:00 a.m., Captain Stancil placed himself on duty as a Sheriff’s Deputy, when he approached and detained a shoplifting suspect in the parking lot of the grocery, pursuant to the arrest. The suspect pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot Captain Stancil one time in the face. Captain Stancil died at the scene of the shooting as a result of the gunshot. The suspect was later identified, subsequently arrested, and later sentenced to life in prison.
Captain Stancil was a Marine and a graduate of the North Carolina Administrative Officers Management Program. He is survived by his wife and three children.