Sergeant Donald C. Benson, Sr. was a 34-year-old Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office officer with eight years of service who died after being shot on November 4, 1981, and succumbing to his wound on November 5, 1981. The call began as an attempt to serve a court order for an emergency mental health evaluation in the Litwalton section of Lancaster, Virginia. When Benson and another deputy approached the residence, the man opened the door and fired a .25 caliber handgun. The shot mortally wounded Sergeant Benson; the other deputy returned fire and wounded the suspect in the abdomen.

The suspect was taken into custody and, rather than going to criminal trial, was committed to a state hospital for mental health treatment. Sergeant Benson is survived by his wife, son, and daughter. Who in the community remembers Benson or has information about that night?