Carr, Officer Fred D.

Officer Fred D Carr was the first black Washington State Officer to be killed in the Line of Duty on February 25, 1973. Carr was one of 11 children (3 brothers and 7 sisters) born March of 1947 and raised in Camilla, GA. He graduated high school in 1966 and was drafted into the army where he served 1 year in Vietnam. He joined the Seattle Police Department in the spring of 1971.

During the early morning hours of February 25, 1973, Seattle Police Officer Fred Carr was shot and killed while responding to a report of a man with a shotgun. When the officers arrived at the scene a group of people met them and said the man had gone into the house. The officers entered the home and the suspect jumped out of a closet and opened fire. Officer Carr was hit, but he was able to return fire. The other officers also returned fire, killing the suspect. Officer Carr reached the front porch where he collapsed and died. He was 26 years old and had served with the Seattle Police Department for 3 years.

“Police work is all Fred wanted to do,“ his sister, Juanita Carr, told a UPI reporter the day of his death. “And because of that, we feel he is satisfied with God’s taking him away at such a time.”

Officer Carr’s body was transported back to Georgia where he was laid to rest.  He is survived by his parents and ten siblings.