William Lafayette Nettles

Bowie County Sheriff's Office — Texarkana, TX

Felonious

End of Watch March 1, 1892

Age 37

The Vigil Panel 11 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Deputy Sheriff William Nettles was shot and killed while attempting to disarm a drunk man who was shooting into the air. The suspect shot Deputy Nettles in the chest.

The suspect, who claimed self defense, was tried and acquitted.

Deputy Nettles was survived by his wife and eight children.

Survivors

Deputy Nettles was survived by his wife and eight children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-5C237845
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

134 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Deputy Sheriff Nettles served with the Bowie County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Texarkana community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Bowie County Sheriff's Office

Location Texarkana, TX

Platform Identity bcso.bowie.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 1, 1892

Age 37

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Deputy Sheriff William Lafayette Nettles is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TX, 1,463 of 2,421 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Bowie County Sheriff's Office, 4 of 5 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 80% of this agency's fallen.

Bowie County Sheriff's Office

of 5 officers

80% Felonious

TX — Statewide

1,463

of 2,421 officers

60.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious