Deputy C. Rollin Wicks was killed by a neighbor during arrest after the man shot and wounded another neighbor while engaged in a dispute. Deputy Wicks was unarmed at the time.

The suspect later died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound after holding off deputies, state police officers, employees of the nearby Booth Kelly Mill and 500 residents of Wendling.  Deputies surrounded the house for five hours while tear gas was rushed to the scene from Salem.