Robert EB Williams - South Carolina Law Enforcement Division End of Watch: August 21, 1975
Robert Edward Boone ‘’Bob’’ Williams was born on December 18, 1942, and was the youngest son of Robert Edward and Louelee Elizabeth Boone Williams. He grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated from Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. Bob moved to South Carolina where he played basketball at South Carolina State College. After graduation, Bob coached at several schools before moving to Walterboro as the Assistant Football Coach and Assistant Principal at Colleton High School. During his tenure with the Colleton County School System, he became friends with Colleton County Sheriff John I. Seigler and began working with the Sheriff’s Office. This friendship led Bob to pursue a law enforcement career. Bob and a college teammate applied to the South Carolina Highway Patrol but were denied because ‘’they were too tall to fit them with uniforms.”
In 1972, he was hired as a Special Agent by SLED Chief J.P. Strom to work Narcotics Investigations.
On Monday, April 8, 1974, Agent Williams was working an undercover drug investigation in Darlington County. At around 11:30 PM, Agent Williams was driving a car near Hartsville with four other people and en route to make an undercover buy. One of the drug suspects opened fire from the back seat striking the confidential informant in the head and Agent Williams several times in the face and back. Agent Williams was able to draw his revolver, return fire, and physically subdue the suspect. Agent Williams then walked to a house about a quarter of a mile away to call for medical attention for the injured. All of the persons injured were taken to the hospital in Hartsville for treatment. A fragment of the bullet that struck Agent Williams in the face resulted in the loss of his right eye. Another bullet was lodged in his back near his heart, and it was determined that the surgery to remove the bullet was too dangerous, so it was left in place. Agent Williams was hospitalized for a month but later returned to duty at SLED.
On May 23, 1974, Agent Williams received the South Carolina Bravery Award from the Claims Management Association of South Carolina.
On August 21, 1975, Agent Williams went to work as he normally would, but later fell ill and was taken to the Colleton County Hospital. He was then transported to North Trident Hospital in Charleston where he passed away. It was determined that a blood clot from the previous gunshot wound had dislodged, causing a cardiac event that resulted in his death.
"For his service and sacrifice, today we induct SLED Agent Robert Williams into the Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame, a division of the SC Department of Public Safety, formally inducted six fallen law enforcement officers today."
This year’s ceremony recognized six officers from around the state, three of whom were historical inductees dating back to 1913. Of the officers killed in the line of duty in 2023, two died in traffic collisions and one died from being struck by a train while rescuing a distressed individual.
“This ceremony presents us with the opportunity to honor those officers who laid down their lives to protect our friends, families, and communities at large,” said SCDPS Director Robert G. Woods, IV. “We will never be able to fully repay them for their incredible valor, but inducting them into the Hall of Fame is the least we can do to acknowledge their sacrifices.”
