A Courtroom Gunfire Mishap in Walla Walla
A sheriff's demonstration of a murder weapon goes awry, nearly striking a spectator in the courtroom.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
During the trial of the Territory vs. Murphy at the Walla Walla court house this morning, Sheriff Hutchens was testifying as to how the shooting occurred when Murphy was arrested and his partner, Williams, killed. They had committed a burglary in Prescott a month ago. The sheriff had a pistol in his hand, describing the event to Judge Langford, when every one was startled to see and hear the report of the pistol. The bullet struck the wall, rebounding past the face of George Duthro, who felt the wind of it, and struck a seat behind him. The sheriff claims that he took the cartridges out of the pistol yesterday in court, and never thought of it. He states that it is a mystery how the one remained there, as he possesses he did not reload the weapon, but locked it in a vault in his office until he brought it into court this morning. It was a narrow escape for several people in the room.
“The sheriff claims that he took the cartridges out of the pistol yesterday in court, and never thought of it. It was a narrow escape for several people in the room.”
This incident of judicial negligence echoes modern concerns over firearm safety and protocol in civic spaces. It serves as a reminder that the administrative hubris and 'human error' that plagued early Washington territory courts remain a constant in the history of institutional danger.
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