John Wesley Wilder

On July 17, 1965, John Wesley Wilder, the 32-year-old African-American victim, was shot and killed by Ruston Police Department (RPD) XXXXXXXXXXX  According to the subject’s account XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX were on duty on the night of the shooting.   The FBI did not locate XXXXXX but it did interview XXXXX who did not recall being on duty but stated that the subject told him that he had to fire five times and that the subject was bothered by the shooting.  Similarly, former RPD XXXXXXXX who was working for the RPD at the time of the shooting, opined that XXXXXX had not wanted to shoot the victim.