A ceremony honoring the only Oxford law enforcement officer to ever be killed in the line of duty will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12 in the township cemetery on the south side of W. Burdick St.
The public is invited to join Oxford police officers, both past and present, as they pay tribute to John ‘Jay? Gould, the village nightwatchman who was shot and killed by unknown assailants on Feb. 13, 1925.
‘Everybody’s welcome,? said Oxford Village Police Sgt. Mike Solwold.
A few weeks ago, a headstone was finally placed at Gould’s gravesite.
‘The village paid for his funeral, but they never put a marker on there,? said retired Oxford Police Capt. Jim Malcolm, who began researching Gould in 2000, when the joint township-village department disbanded and was replaced with a village agency. ‘I’m just glad we were able to get it done.?
Solwold picked up the torch and worked closely with Malcolm to finally get the headstone they believe Gould deserves.
‘This is something that needed to be finished, something that needed to be done,? Solwold said.
‘Ninety years later, it’s way overdue, I’ll tell you,? Malcolm added. ‘I think it came out excellent. They did a really good job.?
With the stone finally in place, Solwold believes it’s now time for the department to pay their formal respects to one of their own.
‘I thought it was appropriate that we say a few words,? the sergeant said. ‘We didn’t have to say or do anything at all. We could have just put the stone down there, but I thought this would be fitting, having a nice little ceremony to finalize it.?
He chose to do it during National Police Week. The ceremony will consist of some short speeches by Police Chief Mike Neymanowski, Police Chaplain Dave Gerber and Solwold. This will be followed by a performance of Cabar Feidh Pipes and Drums, a band based in Royal Oak, and a formal salute in Gould’s honor.
While making his rounds on Feb. 13, 1925, Gould was ‘shot down in cold blood? at 3 a.m. near the Oxford Savings Bank (now the Northeast Oakland Historical Museum) at the corner of Washington and Burdick streets, according to the story in the Leader.
‘He received the full charge (of No. 6 birdshot from) a shotgun in the left side and died almost instantly,? the Leader reported.
Gould’s body was found lying face down on the ground. He was 52 years old.
It was believed the nightwatchman was shot because he either prevented ‘a contemplated (bank) robbery? or ‘surprised a gang of bootleggers who drove into the village,? according to the Leader.
The Detroit News reported an Oxford grocer, whose store was located across the street from the bank, witnessed the shooting. The grocer reported he heard an automobile stop before the bank, looked out the window and saw Gould ‘run to the rear of the bank building.?
‘A moment later, Gould and the six men (who had been in the car) walked toward the street in front of the bank? and Gould was ‘apparently talking to the men, who were walking toward their automobile,? the News reported.
‘As the men reached their car, two of them seemed to change their minds, for they walked back to Gould, who was standing in front of the building,? the article stated. ‘One of the men hit him and the other shot at him. The shot was fired from a sawed-off shotgun, which had been taken from the back seat of the automobile.?
Whoever the killers were, they made their getaway in a ‘large touring car? that was later found south of Goodison, abandoned with a collapsed wheel, according to the Leader.
‘The car proved to be one stolen in Detroit a few days previous to the shooting,? the Leader reported.
‘Although every barn, deserted shack and bit of timber in the hills were searched,? according to the Leader, the killers were never found.
The News reported ‘two home-made quilts of the variety women piece together were found in the trunk? of the killers? car. ‘They may have intended to use them to stifle the noise of an explosion in case it was necessary to blow the bank safe,? the article stated.
However, that theory was soon changed.
‘Sheriff Frank Schram and his officers failed to find any explosives in or near the (abandoned) automobile,? the News reported. ‘Oxford persons now say they believe that Gould surprised some bootleggers with a load of liquor in their car and that they shot him in order to escape.?
Based on his research, Malcolm has ‘no doubt? it was bootleggers who shot Gould.
‘The Purple Gang used to hang out up here at Stony (Lake),? he said, noting the police department’s dive team used to recover old safes dumped in the lake by the gang of notorious Detroit bootleggers and hijackers who were predominantly Jewish.
According to Malcolm, Prohibition-era bootleggers ‘used to run the booze? from Detroit through Oxford to places like Port Huron, Flint and Saginaw.
‘We figure they had a delivery coming through,? Malcolm said. ‘They told Jay to get off the street and he refused.?
Malcolm believes Gould knew one of the bootleggers on that fateful night in 1925 and that’s what got him killed.
‘It makes me think that they were concerned that at some point, he may say something,? he said. ‘They figured they had to silence him.?
When the 90th anniversary of Gould’s death rolled around earlier this year, Malcolm, Solwold and village Officer Sean Brown stood out in the freezing cold at the corner of Washington and Burdick streets from 2:45 to 3:30 a.m. to pay their respects.
‘He knows we didn’t forget,? Solwold said.
Gould’s name is etched in marble on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington D.C., which honors the more than 20,000 officers who have died in the line of duty throughout history.