Minister Kills Robber Who Killed Policeman

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28231, 20 March 1957, Page 13

Minister Kills Robber Who Killed Policeman

(Rec. 11 p.m.) SELLERSBURG (Indiana), March 18. A Methodist minister today shot and killed a bank robber who had slain a police sergeant. The minister, the Rev. Robert Gingery, killed the robber 10 minutes after he had held up five women employees in the Sellersburg State Bank and escaped with 1655 dollars. Mr Gingery said he fired when the robber started towards him with two guns after shooting the policeman. Mr Gingery was riding with Sergeant Marvin Walts, aged 47, in a patrol car when the policeman stopped the robber. Sergeant radioed his headquarters for help and a moment later a strange voice on the police radio said: “Marvin has been shot and I have killed the bank robber.”

The voice was that of Mr Gingery, who said he shot the robber through the chest with a shotgun he grabbed from the back seat of the police car. The robber was identified as William Haskett, aged 25. Mr Gingery said Sergeant Walts, after learning of the bank robbery on the radio, stopped a suspicious car and approached to question the driver.

The robber shot him, then jumped out of the car with a gun in one hand and grabbed Sergeant Waits’s service revolver in the other. He advanced toward the minister, who fired one blast from the shotgun.

Sergeant Walts was a 20-year veteran with the State police and was due to retire in about a year. He was a member of Mr Gingery’s congregation. Sergeant Walts and Mr Gingery were close personal friends.