SC SC- William Cribb, 29, Police officer, off-duty shopping @ Sam’s Red & White store, fatally shot during robbery, 15/11/74, *Sketch, new initiative*

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Apr 16, 2024
The investigation into the death of an off-duty Charleston Police officer remains open nearly 50 years later. For more Local News from WCSC: https://www.live5news.com/
By Patrick Phillips and Harve Jacobs: Nov. 24, 2019 rbbm
After 45 years, S.C. police officer’s killing remains unsolved

''It was Nov. 15, 1974, at Sam’s Red & White store on James Island. Two off-duty Charleston County Police officers had stopped by the store to shop.
Police said the scene turned from a casual shopping trip into a battle for life and death at approximately 6:30 p.m. when two men armed with guns walked into the store.
A scream alerted the officers to trouble.''

“They confronted the individuals and they got into a fight there,” Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said during a 2010 interview.
During the fight, a third man who had apparently been acting as a lookout shot Cribb.''

He shot Bill Cribb in the neck and basically incapacitated him,” Cannon said. “He fell to his knees.”

One of the other robbers shot Cribb in the chest. The 29-year-old officer was pronounced dead at an area hospital a short time later.

According to the old case file, the killers ran out of the store with cash soaked in Cribb’s blood, never to be seen again.

The Officer Down Memorial Page states Cribb’s fellow officer, who was not armed at the time, grabbed Cribb’s gun and fired at the robbers but they escaped.''
Sketches of the three men responsible in the shooting never produced leads in the officer's killing.(Charleston County Sheriff's Office)

 

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Killer of off-duty police officer remains unknown nearly 50 years later

Almost 50 years ago a Charleston family lost a husband, father and sworn officer of the law but despite countless detectives’ efforts to track down the killer of William “Bill” Cribb, they’ve never been brought to justice.

www.live5news.com

By Blair Sabol Apr. 15, 2024 rbbm
“Many, many people really wanted to solve that case,” Special Operations Captain Paul Tiddle with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. “When a law enforcement officer loses his life. That’s basically an attack on our society.”
Tiddle was also a close friend and neighbor of the Cribb family.
He’s joined a long list of investigators, including some of the most high-profile in Lowcountry law enforcement''
''At one point, a private investigator was brought on, who suggested that it was possible the suspects had connections to other areas, like New York City, and had fled the area.''
“I honestly believe that this case, if it is ever solved, it will be solved with science,” Tiddle said.
Tiddle worked with the Cribbs to create a DNA profile for Bill, separating his from other DNA collected on evidence.''

“It’s early in the evening, 6:45 is early. There’s a lot of traffic going in and out of that store and for three people to come in.. it’s pretty brazen,” Goldstein said.

Both officers jumped into action. But they didn’t see the third suspect coming. And that’s what cost Cribb his life. They shot him in the chest and left him to die. They got away with $5,000 in blood-soaked cash.''