On the morning of Saturday, November 13, 1982, 35-year-old Deputy Sheriff Roy James Fortson Jr. was off-duty at the Majestic Bar at 36th and Spring Garden Streets in Philadelphia when two masked men entered and announced a robbery. One suspect stood guard while the other robbed the bartender. As the armed man who had taken the money began to leave, the unarmed Deputy Fortson tackled him. A struggle followed and Fortson was shot multiple times. Two other off-duty deputies who had been outside making a phone call heard the commotion, returned, and exchanged gunfire with the suspects as they fled.

Deputy Fortson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had served with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office for 12 years, succumbed to his wounds and became the first deputy sheriff in the city of Philadelphia killed in the line of duty. He was survived by his wife and two children. Both suspects, aged 21 and 26, were apprehended; the older suspect was later convicted of second-degree murder and received a life sentence.