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Benjamin Franklin Strong
- Jan. 04, 1968 -
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(363)
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Resided: |
Anchorage AK, USA
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Born: | Aug. 27, 1938 |
Fallen: | Jan. 04, 1968 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 29 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Anchorage Police Dept.
4501 Elmore Rd Anchorage, AK
99507 USA (907)786-8500 |
County: | Anchorage |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Patrolman |
Sworn Date: | 1966 |
FBI Class: | Homicide - Gun |
Weapon Class: | Firearm |
Agency URL: | Click Here
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On The Job: |
1 years
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Bio: Benjamin Franklin Strong, 29, was born on Au. 27, 1938, in Bruneau, Idaho. He was the one of three brothers. Strong joined the U.S. Marines after high school and served until his discharge as a staff Sgt. in 1962. Later in 1962 he joined the Davis, CA, Police Dept. and served for four years reaching the rank of Sgt. In 1966 he moved to AK and joined the Anchorage Police Dept. He was a two-year veteran of the A.P.D. and a six-year law enforcement veteran at his death. |
Survived by: |
his mother, Dorothy Martin, and his brother William A. Strong, all of Anchorage; a sister Betty Felder of Covina, CA; and a half-brother, David Martin of Anchorage
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Willie Lee Gray, Dewey Spencer Gray
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Location: |
AK
USA
Thu. Jan. 04, 1968
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Summary: |
Officer Benjamin F. Strong, 29, was shot and killed during a robbery stake-out on Jan. 4, 1968. He became the third Anchorage police officer killed in the line of duty (after Chief Sturgus in 1921 and Chief Kavanaugh in 1924). The two robberkillers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison though both were released within 8 & 12 years.
After a "rash" of armed robberies of liquor and convenience stores during the ChristmasNew Year holiday season, the Anchorage Police Dept. asked for volunteers to work overtime---with no extra pay---as stake-outs in stores thought to be future robbery targets. One officer who volunteered to help protect the community with no extra pay was Officer Strong. After working a full day-shift he reported to HQ for his volunteer assignment staking-out likely targets.
For three straight nights, Jan. 2-4 (Tuesday through Thursday), he concealed himself in a back storeroom of the Brown Jug Liquor Store at 867 E. Loop Rd. (Across from the entrance to Elmendorf Air Force Base) in the "Government Hill" section of the city. He was armed with a 12 gauge ("riot") shot gun and a .45 caliber pistol. The stake-out began each night around 7:00PM and lasted until the store closed around 1:00PM.
About 10:30PM on Jan. 4, 1968, two masked black men armed with pistols entered the store, one from the back entrance and one through the front door. One ordered the clerk, 22-year-old Ellen Ruth McCoy, to turn off the store lights and she obeyed. The other robber locked the two doors. Then while one man "rifled" the cash box, the other took the clerk into a small washroom at the rear of the store and bound her hands and feet with a cord. He then closed the door to the washroom and joined his companion. Officer Strong remained concealed in the storage room until the clerk was "out of harms way" and the two bandits were together. He then jumped from the room and confronted the two men with his shotgun. Evidently, one of the robbers was able to kick the shotgun from his hands leaving Strong with only his .45 caliber revolver.
A "shoot-out" ensued with Strong wounding both robbers and suffering fatal wounds to himself. One shot from one of the robbers hit Strong in his "upper chest about three inches below his throat." The wound proved fatal but not immediately as after the two gunmen fled the store, Strong managed to grab the telephone and dial "O." He was able to tell the operator of the robbery but "died while talking" and before he could tell her the location. However, the operator was able to trace the call and called the police dispatcher to report the incident. An ambulance was dispatched at 11:09PM. Police and medics found Strong dead with "his body slumped behind the store counter."
It should be noted that Officer Strong "had the drop on" the two robbers and could have shot and killed them "without warning." However, he evidently decided to tell them to "freeze" to give them a chance to give up. Unfortunately, they did not give up and were able to knock the shotgun from his hands forcing him to rely on his handgun. Far from being "trigger-happy," Strong was perhaps too reluctant to begin shooting so that the "advantage" passed to the robbers in the two-on-one armed confrontation. More than 40 police officers converged on the scene once the call went out that Strong had been killed by two armed robbers who were still at large. Two men were arrested within three hours. Dewey Gray, 28, fled to his house at 741 Gum St. on Government Hill with gunshot wounds in his shoulder and thigh. He would not tell his wife what had happened and she called for an ambulance saying her husband had been shot. Police responded with the ambulance and apprehended Dewey Gray. He was first taken under guard to Community Hospital and treated for his serious gunshot wounds.
Police were trailing the second suspect, who had apparently fled on foot, through tracks that he had left in the snow. After Dewey Gray was arrested the police suspected that his brother, Willie Gray, 35, might have been the second gunman and, at 1:30AM, went to his house at 1218 E. 10th Ave. Willie answered the door and talked with the officers until they noticed that he was had suffered a gunshot wound in the leg. "He was treated by a doctor and then jailed."
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Disposition: |
Willie Lee Gray was paroled on Oct. 21, 1975, after serving 7 & 1/2 years on his life sentence. Dewey Spencer Gray was paroled on Jan. 12, 1977, after serving 8 & 1/2 years on his life sentence. |
Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN ALASKA, 1867-1998
By Dr. Wm. Wilbanks FL International University
To be published by Turner Publications in early 1999
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Last Updated: May. 29, 2019 |
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