Deputy Sheriff Len J. Rowell

Len J. Rowell

Deputy Sheriff Len Rowell was shot and killed by the suspect who had shot and killed Greenville, Alabama, Officer Gary Heath on June 14, 1994.

Deputy Rowell had pulled the suspect over at 3:45 am and called in the tag number. Dispatchers came back with nothing on the tag number. As he approached the car, the suspect exited the vehicle shooting. Deputy Rowell was struck six times in the vest and once in the shoulder as he reached for his weapon. He fell to the ground unconscious and was then shot twice in the face.

After the suspect murdered Deputy Rowell he was stopped by Lieutenant Coy Smith, of the Alabama Public Safety Commission. As he sat in his patrol car calling in the tag number the suspect shot him in the head, killing him.

The suspect committed suicide after being surrounded by federal agents later in the day.

Deputy Rowell had served with the Pearl River County Sheriff's Department for eighteen months. He had also served as a US Marine in Operation Desert Storm. He was survived by his wife.