James Russell Brock
A medical doctor who had previously served as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia, Dr. James R. Brock was appointed Deputy Warden at USP Atlanta on May 1, 1917. On December 27, 1917, at approximately 7:45 a.m., he was standing mainline during the breakfast meal when inmate Dmitri Popoff, a Bulgarian national serving five years for counterfeiting, struck him from behind on the head with a lead pipe, crushing his skull. Dr. Brock never regained consciousness and died two hours later in the institution hospital. It is believed Popoff held a personal grudge against Dr. Brock because the Deputy Warden had refused to send out some mail for him.
Dr. Brock was a graduate of Atlanta Medical College and had served as the physician at Rising Fawn Convict Camp before being named to the Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal position. He was serving in a non-medical role when attacked.
James Russell Brock is listed in the National Law Enforcement Memorial on Panel 35, W-11. James, you will never be forgotten.