Private Robert L. McAllister
(EOW 11/23/52)

Less than a block away from the Silver Spring Police Station on a Sunday afternoon, November 23, 1952, Officer Robert McAllister was shot to death by a prisoner he had arrested for reckless and drunken driving. It was shortly before 4 p.m. when Officer McAllister, enroute to work, made the arrest at 16th Street and Colesville Road. Leaving the violator’s car there, Officer McAllister was driving his prisoner to the station in his personal car when he was shot three times at Colesville Road and Ramsey Avenue. His car swerved out of control, striking a car and road signs before coming to rest against the curb. The prisoner, bleeding profusely as a result of the crash, fled the scene and commandeered a ride back to his own car but was detained by citizens who had witnessed the incident. When taken into custody again, the 38-year-old Bethesda man was found to be armed with two handguns and was determined to be a narcotics addict. Officer McAllister was dead on the scene. The 25-year-old officer had been on the force two years.