Joseph John McGarry

Myrtle Beach Police Department

Sunday, December 29, 2002

Officer Joe McGarry, 28, a four-year veteran of the police department, and another officer had stopped at a local eatery, for a break just after midnight when they noticed something suspicious about another customer in the store. They asked the man to step outside, but as they questioned him, he fired a .45-caliber handgun, striking McGarry in the face.

The suspect also fired numerous shots at the other officer, who shot back, striking the gunman in the leg. The gunman, who had been with three companions, got into a 1996 Honda Accord owned by one in the group. A woman who'd been with the group drove the car, police said.

Police chased the Honda and eventually stopped it on U.S. 17 Bypass between 79th and 62nd avenues North by tossing a stick containing hollow spikes in the car's path. The spikes lodge themselves into a car's tires and let air out slowly. McGarry died about 1:25 a.m. at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, said Horry County Coroner Robert Edge.

Joseph John McGarry's name has been engraved at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC. His name can be located on panel 23, West-35.