Officers honored 156 years after being shot by a fellow officer

Ceremony honors other 57 officers who have died.

The sun streamed through the oaks as birds fluttered around the trees. Law enforcement officers, representing agencies throughout Chatham County, gathered on Oglethorpe Avenue near Savannah Police Department headquarters to honor the fallen.

Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther stepped to the podium and relayed a story from April 1866 that easily could have been ripped from today’s headlines.

A Savannah Police Officer named Georgie Grady went out drinking with two off-duty officers instead of man his post and had a bit too much.

After being kicked out of the bar following an altercation, Grady brandished his service weapon and threatened to kill those around him. Police offers began to arrive and attempted to talk Grady down.

Eventually there was a struggle for the gun and Grady shot and killed fellow officer Edward McNichols. He continued firing his gun, also killing officer James Foley, and wounding another officer before being taken into custody.

The Police Memorial statue was erected in 1864 and the first names to be added to the memorial were officers Robert F. Read and Samuel Bryson, who were killed in 1868, two years after McNichols and Foley.

“We can only guess why the names of Officer McNichols and Officer Foley were left out,” said Gunther. “Regardless of how and why it occurred, these men served and died while conducting their duties and they deserve to be remembered.”

Both officers were honored this week along with the 57 other law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty in Chatham County.