Sixty years after a devastating act of violence shook London and the policing community, the names of three officers killed on duty remain remembered with respect and gratitude.
On August 12, 1966, Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, Temporary Detective Constable David Wombwell and Police Constable Geoffrey Fox were carrying out a routine patrol in an unmarked police car when they turned into Braybrook Street, near Wormwood Scrubs in west London. They stopped to question three men in a vehicle, an encounter that quickly turned deadly.
The officers were shot during the confrontation and all three lost their lives. Their deaths became known as the Braybrook Street murders or the Shepherd’s Bush murders, and the case prompted an enormous police manhunt and widespread public outrage.
Head was 30, Wombwell was 25 and Fox was 41. Their deaths represented an extraordinary loss for the Metropolitan Police, with three officers killed in a single incident.
The tragedy also had a lasting impact beyond the investigation. Public sympathy for the families helped inspire substantial support for police families affected by tragedy, eventually contributing to the development of organisations that continue supporting members of the policing community today.
On the 60th anniversary, police leaders and families have once again remembered the three officers and the sacrifice they made while serving the public.
Their names remain part of London’s policing history—a reminder of duty, courage and the families forever changed by their loss.