Girardville police station dedicated to fallen officer
Patrolman Charles Barnhart shot, killed in 1940
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Mayor Michael Zangari shows a plaque dedicating the police station to a fallen police officer.
GIRARDVILLE – The borough of Girardville took a step Wednesday to memorialize its police department’s only line-of-duty death.
Mayor Michael Zangari presented a plaque at Wednesday evening’s borough council meeting, dedicating the police station to Patrolman Charles Herbert Barnhart.
Barnhart died on Sept. 23, 1940 from complications from a gunshot wound.
Zangari said that, then, the police department was investigating the bombing of a railroad car. The chief of police had questioned a suspect in connection with the incident, and, later the two engaged in an argument at the Cantwell Hotel, near the Girard Hose Co., around 1:00am on Sept. 2, 1940.
The suspect left the hotel, returning with a rifle, firing shots at the establishment. Barnhart, on-duty at the time, was struck in the leg in front of the hotel and taken to a local hospital.
He passed away from complications related to the gunshot wound several weeks later, on Sept. 23, 1940.
The suspect in question was apprehended by State Police, and convicted of manslaughter.
Barnhart was 43.
Zangari said the effort to dedicate the station began through the efforts of Chief Jody Long and former Lieutenant Matt Williams.
“Thank the good lord, he was the only police officer in Girardville borough to lose his life in the line of duty,” Zangari said.
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