Huntingdon-Fulton County PA Archives News..... TROOPER DIES TWO HOURS AFTER BEING SHOT IN ABDOMEN, Frederick Sutton, 26; Is Victim Of Shooting In McConnellsburg.    January 4, 1940
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Sharon S. M. shabodeho@aol.com November 13, 2010, 7:28 pm

Daily Times, Huntingdon January 4, 1940
TROOPER DIES TWO HOURS AFTER BEING SHOT IN ABDOMEN

Frederick Sutton, 26; Is Victim Of Shooting In McConnellsburg Last Evening

DIES IN HOSPITAL Cattle Dealer Is Hunted By State, County

A posse of sixty state motor police, which is being augmented hourly by 
additional troopers and county officers, is today combing Fulton county, in the 
vicinity of McConnellsburg, for the slayer of a youthful state trooper, 
Frederick Sutton, age 26, attached to the McConnellsburg sub-station, who was 
fatally shot last night.  The object of the intensive search is Brice Hann, 
aged 54 years, a cattle dealer who lives near McConnellsburg. He fled
following the shooting at 6:15 o'clock last night outside the West End 
restaurant in McConnellsburg, and at press time this afternoon he had not been 
apprehended.  The state policeman was rushed to the Chambersburg hospital 
where, he passed away about 8:30 o'clock last night. Corporal John S. Trease,
formerly a member of the sub-station at Huntingdon, is the officer in charge of 
the McConnellsburg detail.  Trooper Sutton accompanied Constable R. B. Regi of 
McConnellsburg to the West End restaurant last evening to serve a warrant on 
Hann, charging him with issuing a fraudulent check, in connection with his 
purchase of cattle.   As Trooper Button, accompanied by Constable R. B. Regi,
49, of McConnellsburg, entered the restaurant to serve the Warrant, Hann, 
whipped the pistol from his pocket and fired once.  When the trooper fell, 
Hann, replaced the gun and dashed from the restaurant, disappearing down
a nearby alley. Constable Regi picked up the wounded Button and took him to a 
nearby physician's office, from where he was taken to Chambersburg hospital, 22 
miles distant. The bullet entered Button's abdomen.  Searching officers were 
aided by a bloodhound obtained from the Rockview penitentiary.  Hann, who once 
was employed as a driver on a school bus, owned by Constable Regi, walks with a 
slight limp in his right leg. Six feet tall and weighing 150 pounds,
he was dressed in a blue suit and brown overcoat when he fled from the 
restaurant.  Trooper Sutton's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers Sutton, of 249
S, Erie St., Mercer, are now visiting a married daughter, Louise, in
Philadelphia. Other survivors include another sister, Rose, and three brothers, 
Robert, Thomas and John. He was a graduate of Mercer high school.
Hann, who has worked at various laboring jobs previous to taking up cattle 
dealing, is the father of several grown-up children, living in Fulton and 
Huntingdon counties, and he made his home among his children.  Private Martin 
J. Walsh and Private Sutton were the members of the McConnellsburg detail, who
looked after criminal investigation work in Fulton county.  Trooper Sutton, a 
native of Mercer, joined the force two and one-half years ago, having been 
located at Chambersburg until he was transferred to the McConnellsburg
station seven months ago.  Sergeant R. E. Sprenkle, Corporal G. E. Shannon, 
Privates J. W. Rankin, W. E. Kowell and R. R. Heckman of the Huntingdon
sub-station, joined the posse of troopers last night in the search for the 
slayer. The officers had not returned to Huntingdon at press-time today. 
Corporal S. S. Mollenkof, of the Rockview station, was ordered to Huntingdon
to assist at the station here while the Huntingdon officers are on duty in 
Fulton, county.


Harrisburg, Jan. 4.  State Motor Police Commissioner Lynn G. Adams, said today 
that the slayer of Frederick Sutton, 26-year-old trooper, "will not get
away."  Saddened by death of the youthful policeman, fatally wounded in
the abdomen last night as he attempted to serve a warrant on Brice Hann, 54, a 
cattle dealer.  Adams said a "good, tight circle" has been drawn around the 
desolate mountain country where Hann is believed in hiding.  Police said Hann 
fired the shot that killed Sutton outside a restaurant at McConnellsburg. The
victim died in Chambersburg Hospital, two and one-half hours after he was shot 
down, Hann, accused of passing a fraudulent check, fled after the shooting.
"I know," Adams said, "our man is hiding in pretty wild country, but I don't 
expect him to get away. He will not be able to stay in the open very long."
Adams said approximately 100 state policemen and deputy sheriffs were seeking 
Hann at noon today.




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