Patrolman Ronald E. Pope was 26 and had served seven months with the Prichard Police Department when he was fatally shot on the evening of Saturday, August 12, 1978. The shooting occurred as he was getting into his vehicle at a local club and is described as an ambush carried out in revenge for a prior interaction between the suspect and the officer.

An arrest was made during the investigation, but prosecutors later released that individual for lack of sufficient evidence and no conviction resulted. The person responsible for Patrolman Pope’s murder remains at large. He was survived by a sister; his death is still a painful chapter in the department’s history.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or the person who carried out the ambush, please come forward to help bring justice for Patrolman Pope.