On June 26, 1978, Campton, Kentucky’s 23-year-old White chief of police, Jimmy Ray Tolson, was killed at his desk in city hall. Tolson was talking with his brother and his girlfriend when a single rifle shot was fired through the city hall window from a parked car across the street. The bullet struck Tolson in the head and killed him instantly.

After the shooting Tolson’s brother grabbed the chief’s service revolver and fired six shots at the fleeing vehicle, hitting it twice. The shooter was a 19-year-old who later admitted the attack was retaliation after Tolson arrested his brother for public intoxication and a disturbance. The suspect was apprehended at his home, convicted of murder, and sent to prison; he remained incarcerated until his death on January 24, 1994.

Are there readers who remember Campton in 1978 or who can share any additional details about the case or the families affected by this killing?