Murder of Gregory Adams
Gregory B. Adams, a 31-year-old police chief and nine-year veteran of law enforcement, made a routine traffic stop in the parking lot of Agway Feed Store on Butler Street in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania at about 2:50 p.m. or 3:10 p.m. on December 4, 1980. Adams used his patrol car to stop the suspect by blocking the exit of the parking lot. When he asked the suspect for his driver's license, he gave fraudulent identity documents and shot Adams. He returned fire, but the shots were not fatal.
The man believed to be Donald Eugene Webb got out of the car and fought with him. Adams was disarmed and pistol-whipped with his own revolver, being struck several times causing deep wounds to his face and head.
Witnesses heard fired shots; four "pop" noises, presumably from a semiautomatic .25-caliber Colt pistol. and a "boom" from Adams' revolver. He was shot once in the arm and once in the chest at close range. By another account, Adams was shot twice in the chest, one bullet collapsing a lung and another ripping the bottom of his heart. Adams was not wearing his bulletproof vest at the time as he had lent it to another officer. The killer took Adams' gun, ran to his patrol car, ripped out its microphone, took the keys and drove it away.
A nearby resident found mortally wounded Adams, who told her that he did not know his attacker and that he thought he was not going to live. Adams was so badly beaten he was almost unrecognizable. Adams lost consciousness on the way to the hospital and died of his injuries. Adams was survived by his wife Mary Ann Jones (formerly Adams), and their two sons, Benjamin and Gregory, Jr. Adams is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Herman, Pennsylvania.
Read more about this topic: Donald Eugene Webb
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