John L. Blackburn

Sheriff John Blackburn was stabbed to death while attempting to arrest a murder suspect wanted in California. The sheriff and the suspect had argued earlier in the day and then met later that night in a saloon. As Sheriff Blackburn attempted to take the man into custody he was stabbed several times in the chest with a bowie knife. The man escaped but was later shot and killed by another person whom he had threatened to kill the previous night. Sheriff Blackburn was the first Nevada lawman killed in the line of duty. Sheriff Blackburn was a United States Army veteran. He had served with the Carson County Sheriff's Office for two years and had previously served with the United States Marshals Service.