Willis McCall

Willis V. McCall
Photo of Willis McCall taken in 1951, 15 minutes after he claimed to have been attacked by Sam Shepherd and Walter Irvin, handcuffed prisoners. He shot them both, killing Shepherd. Irvin claimed he shot them in cold blood, with no provocation.
Born	Willis Virgil McCall July 21, 1909 Umatilla, Lake County, Florida
Died	April 28, 1994 (aged 84)
Occupation	Sheriff

Willis Virgil McCall (July 21, 1909 – April 28, 1994) was an elected sheriff of Lake County, Florida. He served seven consecutive terms from 1944 to 1972, losing his bid for an eighth term shortly after being acquitted of the murder in 1972 of Tommy J. Vickers, a mentally disabled black prisoner in his custody.

McCall's notoriety outlived him. In 2007, the Lake County Commission voted unanimously to change a road named in his honor 20 years before, due to his history as a "bully lawman whose notorious tenure was marked by charges of racial intolerance, brutality and murder." He gained national attention in the Groveland Case in 1949. In 1951 he shot two defendants in the case while transporting them to a new trial, killing one on the spot. He was not indicted for this action. During his 28-year tenure as sheriff, McCall was investigated multiple times for civil rights violations and inmate abuse, and tried for murder, but was never convicted.

Willis McCall was born in Umatilla, Lake County, Florida, son of Walter (born c. 1877) and Pearl (born c. 1886) McCall. His father was a dirt farmer from Alabama.

McCall was first elected as Sheriff of Lake County in 1944, and successively re-elected until 1972. "At 6 feet 1 and weighing more than 200 pounds, McCall loomed large as Lake sheriff from 1945 until 1972. He wore a trademark white felt hat, black string tie and polished boots."

On July 16, 1949, Norma Padgett, a 17-year-old married white woman in Groveland, Florida, said she had been raped by four young black men. The next day, 16-year-old Charles Greenlee, Sam Shepherd, and Walter Irvin were arrested and jailed pending trial. Shepherd and Irvin were both U.S. Army veterans. Sheriff McCall was out of state at the time but returned the next day. This case attracted national attention; McCall was frequently in the limelight.

Ernest Thomas fled the county and avoided arrest, but a Sheriff's posse shot and killed him about 200 miles northwest of Lake County. A coroner's inquest was unable to determine who killed Thomas as he was shot many times.