Age: 29
Served: 5½ years
October 29, 1972 to July 15, 1978

On July 15, 1978, an off-duty officer inside the King Kwik convenience market at McMicken and Dixmyth Avenues was suspicious of two men in a vehicle who appeared to be casing the store for a robbery.  The officer communicated his concern and, at 12:10 a.m., Officer Burdsall, a Vietnam veteran, stopped the vehicle at 3001 West McMicken Avenue.  As he approached the car, Wayne Reed suddenly came from the driver’s door, squatted into a crouch position, raised a revolver toward Officer Burdsall, and shot three times at Officer Burdsall from a few feet away, pivoted and shot twice at David Mellon, a teen-aged citizen observer riding with Officer Burdsall, and got back into the car and drove away.  Officer Burdsall, mortally wounded but still alive, fell to the ground.  Mellon, shot once in the back, ran from the passenger side of the police cruiser, grabbed Burdsall's revolver, and shot at the suspects as the car pulled away.  He then picked up Burdsall’s radio and called for help, but had trouble recalling the Car Number.  Officer Burdsall said, “508 – 508” – his last words.  Several of Mellon’s shot connected with the car and later helped identify Reed and Bell. 

Officer Phillips was the first officer on the scene.  Officer Burdsall and Mellon were taken to General Hospital where Officer Burdsall died at 4:30 a.m.  Mellon’s wound was not fatal.

Wayne Reed, after his arrest, told investigators that he would have shot any officer who got in his way.  He was sentenced to die in the electric chair, but his sentence was commuted to life during the 1980s due to a Supreme Court ruling on Ohio’s death penalty.  On September 10, 2003, the Ohio Parole Board denied Reed a parole.  During 2009, another ruling by the Supreme Court caused the Parole Board to re-hear cases heard between 1998 and 2005.  On September 28, 2009, after a huge letter-writing campaign by the citizens of Cincinnati, he lost his latest bid to skirt justice.  He is incarcerated at the Madison Correctional Institute with another hearing scheduled for July 2014.  He will be sixty-two years old.

Russell Bell was sentenced to die in the electric chair, but his sentence was commuted to life.  He is incarcerated at the London Correctional Institute and his next parole hearing is scheduled for September 2014.  He will be sixty-three years old. Officer Burdsall didn't live to see thirty.

Officer Burdsall is buried in St. Joseph (New) Cemetery, Section 9B, Lot 87.  He left a wife, Karen, and three children, Melissa (7), Eric (5), and Christopher (3) and his parents, Charles A. and Martha.  His brother, Donald Burdsall, retired as a Lieutenant from the Police Department several years later.

If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of this officer, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.