"Lynched in the Public Park, West Virginia Negro Pays Penalty for Shooting Chief of Police.
Special to the Record Herald. Elkins,W. Va., July 22.-William Brooks, colored, was lynched in City Park here this afternoon by a maddened mob of 500 half an hour after he had shot and fatally wounded Robert lilly, chief of police. Brooks was creating a disturbance in the lower end of town and when Chief lilly tried to arrest him the negro fled into a house. The officer followed and clinched with him. While they were rolling on the floor the officer's revolver dropped from his pocket and Brooks seized it and shot lilly through the abdomen. Brooks then jumped from a window and was instantly pursued by the crowd which had been attracted by the fight. He was captured after a chase of half a mile and carried to the park, where his body was soon swinging from a tree."

The branch fastened to William Brooks's left leg was a primitive restraining device used to hobble a prisoner.

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