National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Officer Rank: Lieutenant

Memorial Panel: 14-E: 9

Department: Colorado State Patrol

End of Watch: July 12, 1961

Cause: SHOT

Age: 49

Years of Service: 16

Description: Lieutenant Short and Sheriff Chancy Van Pelt responded to a suspicious person call made by Colorado Wildlife Officer Bob Hoover. The lawmen were about to place the suspect in the patrol car when the suspect pulled out a gun, lined all three men up against a dirt bank, shot them then fled. Lieutenant Short died during surgery. Sheriff van Pelt and Officer Hoover survived. The suspect was captured two days later, but not before killing Deputy John Clark, of the Eagle County Sheriff?s Office, who along wit a posse of lawmen were in pursuit of the Lieutenant short?s killer. The suspect was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Colorado State Penitentiary.