Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-12-14
ELEVEN SHOT
WITH ONE DEAD
WORK OF AN INFURIATED NE
GRO. POSSE CONGREGATED.
POSSE C0NGREGATED
Composed of Both White and Black
and They Alike Become His Tar
gets. Fire Set to House and Muir
derer Escapes.


Greenville, Miss-Dennis Holman,
supposed to be a negro murder from
Arkansas, ran amuck here, killing an
Englishman, mortally wounding two
persons, seriously wounding two ne
gro women, and slightly wounding
three policemen and junk dealer. As
he was running to cover his right arm
was shot off, but shifting his pistol to
his left he stood off posse, composed
of practically 1000 armed citizens and
only surrendered when the fire de-
partment was about to burn him ont.
The sheriff and small posse of Off
GERS carried him to jail, where he will
remain until the January term of
court, when he will be given a speedy
trial.
One of the officers, Abercrombie an
old man whose injured leg was amput-
ated has never rallied from the opera
ton. He will hardly live. Cofer anoth
er officer, was shot through the body
in vital spot and will die. The
Englishman was killed outright.
Holman began the trouble in ne
gro house, where the woman lived
Going there about IL 80 O'Clock he
asked her for some money, which
after she gave it to him, he spent fol
box of pistol cartridges. Returning
TO the house he secured his pistol, a
4l-cahber weapon, and locking the
door, loaded it and began to shoot the
woman. Twice he shot her in the neck
and once in the back. She broke from
him tore open the door and ran scream
ing into the open. Her frightened
cries and the pistol shots attracted 4
crowd Immediately, and Officer viii
COfer and a citizen, George Rigley
entered the shanty, from the rear
with the intention of arresting Hol-
man. They failed to locate him and
looking into a room on the opposite
side of the hallway, from where he
was exposed themselves to his fire.
Cofer was in the doorway, peerine
in, when Rigley, who was standing IN
his rear, saw the fash of a gun in the
room where Holman was hiding, fol
lowed Immediately by the report. The
ball sped home to its mark, hitting
Cofer squarely in the back and going
clean through his body Rigley being
unarmed, fled from the building, and
C6fer crying out, ~ am shot," turn
ed and staggered after him, and re-
ceived a second shot in the shoulders
as he turned. Reaching the rear dool
he tumbled out into the arms of some
men, who had gathered there to find
out the trouble.
Holman remained in the room having
locked the door after driving Cofel
and Rigley out. His second round of
shots drew a still larger crowd to the
scene, and men came running up
while others went about town giving
the alarm and securing fire arms from
their homes, offices and gun stores.
The streets are usually crowded al
this hour of the day, and being in the
center of the city it looked as if a
riot was in progress.
An English sign painter, Enoch
Thompson, who had been drinking du-
ring the morning secured a rife and
went into the house unaccompanied
The hallway was dark and the parti-
tions, thin frame planking, do not ex-
tend to the ceiling Thompson climbed
up on a piano, and peering over the
partition, into the room where he be
lieved Holman was hiding, fired, and
in doing so he disclosed his presence
to the negro, who was in another room
and the negro returned the fire shoot
ing the Englishman through the heart
and dropping him dead to the floor.
With three men shot, the negro was
now in a mood to defy an armed null
titude. About both entrances to the
house stood an excited throng of mad
dened men, who were leaderless and
lacked initiative to go in and bring
the negro out. Every one realized
that it was a veritable deathtrap in
side, and only an absolutely fearless
man would dare go in there Capt.
Quinn, chief Of police, accompanied
by several patrolmen, came up about
this time, and he and Officer Aber-
crombie showed their way through the
crowd and started down the hallway
looking for the negro. As they en-
tered the negro came out of his door
and began shooting at them, running
A Test Case.
L .,.al, 1o,s