Walter Cole had worked for city, county

A retired high-ranking Vicksburg police officer described as a “pioneer in law enforcement” was found dead of an apparent homicide in his car this morning near his Waltersville Estates home with what appeared to be a bullet hole in his head.

The body of Walter C. Cole, 75, 258 Jefferson Circle Apt. 250-B, was found in a green Chrysler PT Cruiser on Pittman Road, said Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey.

“It appears to be a single gunshot wound to the head,” said Vicksburg Police Lt. Bobby Stewart. “Right now we’re trying to backtrack, talk to neighbors or anyone in the area who might know what happened.”

Huskey said he believed Cole had died Tuesday. Stewart said police investigators are treating Cole’s death as a homicide, as “we didn’t find anything to lead us to believe it was a suicide.”

There was no weapon found in Cole’s vehicle, said Stewart, and no motive was determined. Investigators had initially not suspected foul play because the wound was not apparent. It was discovered only after the body was taken to Williams Funeral Service. A full autopsy will be performed at the Mississippi Crime Lab in Jackson by Thursday night, Huskey said.

Pittman Road resident Robert Lee Smith said he believed Cole’s car had been parked in the spot where his body was discovered since Sunday, although he did not know if Cole’s body was in the car since then.

“I thought the car was broken down,” he said.

Cole was one of the “Lucky 7,” said Stewart, the name the first seven black officers hired by the Vicksburg Police Department in the 1970s gave themselves. When Stewart joined the police force in 1989, he said Cole was assistant chief over patrol.

“He was always a good guy, always happy, always smiling,” Stewart said.

Before retiring from the police force in the early 1990s, Cole rose to the rank of assistant chief, third in command at the department.

He then worked as a detention officer for the Warren County Sheriff’s Department from May 1997 until November 2005, said Sheriff Martin Pace.

“He was a wealth of information to the younger officers,” said Pace. “Not only about police work, but about people. He knew everybody in the county, and was very well respected. He was a pioneer in law enforcement of Vicksburg and Warren County, and had dedicated his entire adult life to public service.”

Cole’s known survivors include a sister in Cary, a nephew in Vicksburg and a daughter out of the state.

Seven homicides have been recorded in the city this year and one in Warren County.