Look Back: Shickshinny police chief fatally shot in 1918

Oct. 9—Shickshinny Police Chief Ray Curwood entered the Mountain Inn Hotel on Union Street searching for William Beach Faulds on Feb. 5, 1918.

Curwood, 28, a life long resident of Shickshinny who was the manager of the town's baseball team and fire fighter, became aware Faulds had purchased a revolver and intended to harm his own family.

When Curwood approached Faulds, he was shot twice suffering gunshot wounds to his chest and right thigh.

Curwood was rushed to Nanticoke State Hospital where he died from his injuries on Oct. 12, 1918.

"Chief of Police Ray Curwood was shot and perhaps fatally wounded last night at 6:30 o'clock by William Bruce Faulds, aged 30, also of Shickshinny, while trying to force Faulds to surrender a revolver with which, it is said, he had threatened to shoot a relative with whom he had quarreled," the Wilkes-Barre Record reported Feb. 6, 1918.

Those inside the hotel made no effort to restrain Faulds who escaped.

"Posses were organized and spent many hours, suffering excruciatingly from the cold, in a thorough search of the borough and adjoining woods," the Record reported.

Two county detectives hurried to Shickshinny in a vehicle machine and telegraphs were sent to all police departments in Luzerne and Columbia counties spreading the alarm. Policemen in Wilkes-Barre were put on alert as Faulds spent time in the Diamond City where he was known to hang out at pool halls on East Market Street.

Faulds was captured six miles below Shickshinny walking along the D.L & W railroad tracks toward Berwick by the two county detectives and three state policemen at about 11 a.m. Feb. 6, 1918.

"They quickly surrounded him and with drawn revolvers forced him to surrender and give up the revolver and a box of cartridges which he carried," the Record reported of Fauld's capture.

Faulds spent the night in a barn but he told the lawmen he was not able to sleep due to the cold. After his capture, Faulds admitted to shooting Curwood.

The Record printed Fauld's admission to shooting Curwood on Feb. 7, 1918.

"When the chief came toward me I told him to keep away. He came over and took hold of me so I pushed him away with my left hand and gave it to him with my right. He had no business bothering me," Faulds told the lawmen.

After the shooting, Faulds said he visited another hotel and had a glass of beer before finding a barn to spend the night.

Faulds' trial began June 18, 1918. His admission to the lawmen on Feb. 7, 1918, was read to the jury.

"The defendant appeared to be the least concerned at the trial and once during the afternoon laughed heartily when a witness described how those in the bar room fled when the shots were fired," the Record reported June 19, 1918.

Faulds was described as being a difficult defendant who ignored his attorneys and often smirked at the jury.

James Larish, who was bar tending at the Mountain Inn Hotel, told the jury Faulds entered and asked for a small glass of beer. Faulds leaned against the bar when Chief Curwood entered the barroom.

"The chief asked for the gun and when he took hold of Faulds' arm, the latter backed away and fired four shots. Then he hurried from the barroom and got away," Larish told the jury as published in the Record.

After Curwood sustained the gunshot wounds, he yelled out, "Boys, My God, he got me."

The trial was an easy one to prosecute as the jury convicted Faulds of first degree murder announcing their verdict at 10:30 p.m. on June 19, 1918.

"Faulds sat in a fixed attitude as the jurors filed out and appeared like a statue in despair," reported the Record.

Faulds was taken back to his jail cell and only asked for tobacco. He would later be sentenced to death.

Death came quick for Faulds who died at the county jail Oct. 13, 1918. His death certificate says he died from tuberculosis.

A tribute honoring Curwood is on the Officer Down Memorial Page.