Effort to include victim of 1922 shooting on memorial wall in D.C.
Washington police Chief Chris Luppino, left, signs documents to have Officer Richard A. Thomas’ name added to a national memorial. Thomas was shot and killed in an ambush while on duty in 1922. Seated next to Luppino is Rocky Geppert, an investigator for the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial of Allegheny County, who unearthed the case. Also on hand for the document signing were Thomas’ great-grandchildren Connie Thomas and Robert Mack of Washington.
The City of Washington police force circa 1922. Patrolman Richard Thomas is fourth from left in the back row.
Washington police Officer Richard A. Thomas was only on the job for about three months when he was gunned down in the early morning hours of May 26, 1922.
Thomas is believed to be the only city police officer killed in the line of duty. But it seems the passage of time made him forgotten by all but his family until a volunteer case investigator with Law Enforcement Officers Memorial of Allegheny County came across his name while searching online newspaper archives. Now, an effort is being made to have Thomas’ name included on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., along with the names of other officers killed in the line of duty.
The 42-year-old officer was shot and killed by Lewis Catlin near the corner of Forrest and Highland avenues, not far from where Thomas lived with his wife and 10 children.
Thomas had just talked with the owners of the Spiro store, also known as Spiro pool room. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Spiro lived in an apartment in the building, as did Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Camps, who also spoke to the officer.
After they bid the officer a good night, the Spiros reportedly closed the door when they heard two shots in rapid succession, according to newspaper reports. Thomas was shot twice, including once in the chin. That shot, according to news accounts, deflected downward and shattered the upper portion of his spinal column before exiting his shoulder. The other bullet hit him in the fleshy part of his arm. The murder weapon was a .45-caliber Colt Army revolver, found in a trunk in Catlin’s room.
News accounts at the time indicated “personal enmity” was the motive in the murder. Catlin also was married at one time to the officer’s niece, who divorced him. He reportedly blamed Thomas for his arrest on theft charges. Just before the shooting, Catlin reportedly bragged to companions in the pool room he was going to leave Thomas on the corner.”
Catlin roomed with Thomas’ uncle, Ross Thomas, at the time of the shooting. He returned to his room right after the shooting before fleeing the area.
Catlin was on the lam for 10 years until he turned himself in to police in Baltimore, Md., in 1932. He returned to Washington County, where he pleaded guilty to second degree murder was sentenced to nine to 18 years in prison.
Rocky Geppert, who along with his father, Rick, are volunteer case investigators who have tracked down line-of-duty deaths of police officers in Allegheny County for the last seven years. Geppert, who is an auxiliary police officer in Oakmont, said, on occasion, they come across the name of other officers killed on the job.
The original story Geppert found was in the former Canonsburg Daily Notes. Geppert then contacted Citizen’s Library and was able get more articles on the crime from the Washington Observer and Washington Reporter. He then contacted Washington police Chief Chris Luppino and notified him of his findings.
Luppino was surprised to learn a member of the department was killed in the line of duty.
“We thought we had a pretty good history of the department, that along with what had passed down through the Fraternal Order of Police from generation to generation,” Luppino said. “I found no one who knew of this. We have had a few officers shot, but none killed that we know of.”
“It is a shame no one knew. The recognition is long overdue,” the chief added. “I really have to commend Rocky for his efforts.”
Connie Thomas, great-granddaughter of the officer, said her family knew Richard Thomas was killed in the line of duty and was surprised when a newspaper article several years ago about officers who died in the line of duty made no mention of him. Connie Thomas’ grandfather was Sell Wilson Thomas, the fourth child born to the officer and his wife, Anna Mae Thomas.
The widow’s tale of raising 10 children, the youngest just 13-months-old, is a remarkable one.
“People in the community knew about my family,” Thomas said. “The McCunes, McCarrells, Johnson, Lyons and other families opened their doors to help our family. My grandfather quit school to help out.”
Thomas’ aunt, Betty Robinson, is the daughter of the officer’s daughter, Celestine Thomas Johnson. Her mother was the Thomas’ fifth child.
“When my grandfather was killed, the oldest child was 20 and the youngest was a little over a year old,” Robinson said. “It was pretty rough for my grandmothers, but she managed to raise the children while working for a fraternity at Washington & Jefferson College.”
“I remember my mother saying they were poor but always had clothes on their back and food on the table,” she added. “And there was a lot of love.”
Robinson said the older children would take one of their younger siblings under their wing and help raise.
Raymond “Archie” Thomas, the last of the 10 children born to Richard and Anna Mae Thomas, died Oct. 20, 2013. He worked at Jessop Steel and was very active with the Washington branch of the NAACP.
Thomas said she knows very little about her great-grandfather.
“I remember them saying he was very strict and unwavering,” Thomas said. “But there were just certain things that weren’t spoke. You stayed out of grown folks business.”
Joined by members of Thomas’ family and Geppert, Luppino signed paperwork to have the officer’s name placed on the memorial. The paperwork along with Thomas’ death certificate and news articles are being sent to the names committee for review. Geppert believes it is a strong case. If Thomas is selected for inclusion, he will be remembered during a candlelight ceremony in May.