Sgt. Wilson

Sgt. Wilson

Today, on the capital grounds in Carson City, 128 officers who were killed in the line of duty, will be honored for their services to their communities.

Mineral County, too, will remember a fallen deputy sheriff.

To date, Mineral County Sheriff’s Office has only lost one of their own while on duty.

On July 25, 1994, Sgt. Richard Willson ensured a foot chase with a suspect. During the capture, Willson was struck in the chest with a crowbar.

He would return to the sheriff’s office where he continued follow through with necessary paperwork, when he began to feel ill.

Escorted to the hospital by a fellow officer, Willson would need to be transferred to a second hospital for further testing. Enroute to the second hospital, at approximately 2:30 a.m. Willson would suffer a fatal heart attack.
Having served Mineral County for just over three years.

On the Officer Down Memorial page, Willson is remembered. A quote from the site is as follows, “When a police officer is killed, it’s not an agency that loses an officer, it’s an entire nation.”

Willson left behind a wife and two children along with a department of officers who mourned the loss.