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Sergeant

Archie B. Wood

Nashville City Police Department — Nashville, TN

Felonious

End of Watch November 12, 1924

Age 53

Tour of Duty 12 yrs

The Vigil Panel 112 · Column 1 · Line 4 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 21

Incident

Sergeant Archie Wood was shot and killed by two of four boys he had just arrested in a stolen automobile. He hopped on the running board and instructed the driver to drive to the police station. As they pulled up to the station, two of the suspects shot Sergeant Wood with .44 caliber revolvers. The two killers, both 17, were convicted of murder and sentenced to 21 years. The first few years would be in a reformatory school, and then the remaining years would be in prison. One escaped from the reformatory school two years later and was captured in Memphis a year later. He was returned to the Tennessee Penitentiary. The other suspect escaped from prison on December 11, 1934. On August 28, 1936, he was captured in Clinton, Louisiana, and returned to Tennessee. On July 20, 1937, he was pardoned by Governor Gordon Browning for saving the lives of two men in 1935. He was working for Bell Telephone in Louisiana with two co-workers, working beside a freight train when a load of logs suddenly broke loose from a flat car. The workers, in a prone position, were grabbed by the suspect by their ankles and pulled to safety just as the logs crashed, saving them from a certain death. Several newspapers reported his heroic act, which eventually led to his capture. The other two suspects in the car, 15 and 16, were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 5 years each in a reformatory school. Sergeant Wood had served with the Nashville City Police Department for 12 years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, three children, two sisters, and a granddaughter.

In Our Keeping

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Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Wood gave the Nashville City Police Department 12 years.
Thank you for your service to the Nashville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Wood.

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

Agency

Department Nashville City Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Nashville, Davidson County, TN

Platform Identity npd.davidson.tn.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 12, 1924

Tour of Duty 12 yrs

Age 53

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Archie is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1924, 225 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 4th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Archie was 53. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Archie had served 12 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

November holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Wednesdays: 12.9%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was handgun, in 23.4% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded