Westfield remembers slain Deputy Marshall 50 years on

Westfield Mayor Andy Cook spoke to those who assembled to honor Brown. (Photo provided)

On Monday evening, Westfield Mayor Andy Cook and several members of the Westfield Police Department honored former Westfield Deputy Marshall David Brown, who was killed in the line of duty on Jan. 11, 1969.

Brown was shot and killed while checking on a suspicious vehicle containing two people behind Westfield High School.

During the stop Brown had one of the men sit in the front passenger seat of his patrol car. As Deputy Brown spoke to him the man attacked him inside the car and disarmed him. The man then fatally shot Brown before both suspects fled the scene.

When the dispatcher was unable to contact Brown with the reply, a second officer was sent to check on him. Upon the second officer’s arrival, Brown was found shot to death in his patrol car. During the stop Brown had written down the vehicle’s license plate number.

Both suspects were apprehended later at an apartment in Indianapolis.

It was later determined that Brown had interrupted the men stealing a pig from a field behind the high school.

The man who shot Brown was sentenced to life in prison, where he later died.