Woodrow Wilson (1919-1943), a house painter and WWII veteran, was killed by police officers C.L. Teague and R.W. Young in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina. Wilson had knocked on the door of a white family—the Steppes—who then called the police alleging that he was trying to break in. According to police accounts, Wilson was drunk and resisted arrest, and he was killed as they tried to subdue him. According to Wilson’s wife Nannie Wilson and the NAACP, Wilson was at the Steppes’ door to collect on a bill for a paint job. When no one answered, he left to walk home. Police stopped him, and the brutality began. Police shot as Wilson ran, beat him further, and took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. In addition to his wife, many Black neighbors witnessed the assault.

Woodrow Wilson

C. L. Teague

R. W. Young