Killed in the Line of Duty 40 Years Ago Today

January 11, 2013 — The Salt Lake City Police Department today remembers the loss of one its own: Detective Percy L. “Perc” Clark, killed in the line of duty January 11, 1973.

Detective Clark, 42, was shot and killed while conducting a stakeout of a pharmacy at 564 Third Avenue.

Information from an informant had revealed that the pharmacy would be robbed. At approximately 9 p.m., two suspects arrived and were in the process of robbing the pharmacist when Clark left a position of cover and moved closer to the doorway. As the suspects exited, Clark called for their surrender. He was shot in the head with a 9mm handgun.

The suspect who fired the shot was immediately killed by other officers. The second suspect surrendered and was eventually committed to the State Hospital.

Detective Clark was married and the father of seven children. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

With the support of the late-civil rights attorney Brian Barnard, the Salt Lake City Police History Project last year installed a bronze marker at the site of Clark’s last watch. For more information about the Police Department’s Fallen Officers, please visit police.slc.gov/newsroom/fallen.

Bronze plaque installed Oct. 5, 2012, at 564 E. Third Ave., SLC, UT,
in honor of Detective Percy Clark (Photo: SLCPD/Josh Ashdown).

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