On Saturday, January 12, 1974, Deputy Edd Williams was working off duty security at an apartment complex located in the 800 block of Victoria. On Saturdays the manager collected rent and Deputy Williams would stand by in the office. Deputy Williams was in plain clothes wearing a suit. Shortly before noon two men entered the office and asked to see an apartment. One of the men pulled a gun and placed it against the manager’s head. The manager’s apartment adjoined the office. The second man gathered the manager’s children, placed them into a bedroom and closed the door. He then ordered the manager’s wife into another bedroom and forced her to kneel down and place her head on the bed. By this time, the second suspect had also pulled a gun and both suspects frantically pulled ski masks over their faces.

The first gunman had taken the rent money from the manager’s desk and had also taken the manager’s wallet. He also ordered Deputy Williams to give up his wallet. He then ordered the manager and Deputy Williams into the bedroom. The manager was placed on the same side of the bed as his wife and Deputy Williams went to the other side of the bed. Both men were ordered to kneel by the bed and place their heads on the bed. Deputy Williams knelt beside the bed keeping his hands raised. While holding a gun on him, suspect number two approached Deputy Williams and began searching him. As he pulled back the right side of Deputy Williams’ coat, he noticed the Deputy’s badge attached to his shirt pocket.

When the suspect observed the badge, Deputy Williams lunged upward and attempted to grab the suspect’s weapon. The suspect stepped back and fired once striking Deputy Williams in the chin. Deputy Williams fell to the floor and remained there until the suspects left. After the suspects left, Deputy Williams stood and walked to the bathroom for a moment, then exited the apartment office and began to wander in the parking lot. The manager retrieved a gun, contacted HPD and went outside after Deputy Williams. The manager loaded Deputy Williams into a taxi, which was in the parking lot, and ordered the driver to take the wounded Deputy to Parkway Hospital. Deputy Williams walked into the hospital on his own and advised the ER nurse that he had been shot in a robbery. Deputy Williams was immediately taken into surgery. Despite efforts to save his life, he died approximately forty minutes later. Apparently the bullet, after striking Deputy William’s chin, had traveled upward and lodged in his brain.

Deputy Edd Williams was 35 years old and had been with the Sheriff’s Department for seven months. This case remains unsolved.