Pensacola law enforcement escorts the body of ousted Alabama MP to his home
This story has been updated to reflect that Nicholson was also an elected police officer.
Local law enforcement officers kept watch overnight and escorted a deceased Alabama MP on Thursday who was killed in the line of duty.
Madison “Skip” Nicholson, an elected police officer and retired MP with 40 years of service in the Wilcox County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama, was gunned down Wednesday evening while responding to a domestic violence call at Yellow Bluff, Alabama, a small rural community 140 miles north of Pensacola.
Nicholson was shot in the neck and chest and was airlifted to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola for emergency treatment, but succumbed to his injuries.
“We never leave a deceased police officer alone,” said Mike Wood, information officer with the Pensacola Police Department.
It was a sea of blue around the Sacred Heart of Ascension Thursday afternoon as law enforcement from the Pensacola Police Department and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office gathered in a procession to escort Nicholson’s body to Alabama after an autopsy.
According to Wilcox County Sheriff Earnest Evans, the suspect, Billy Bizzell, 52, opened fire on Nicholson and Deputy Chief Trenton Gulley when they approached a residence in response to the call.
Bizzell also died in the shooting. Conflicting reports do not reveal whether Bizzell died from a deputy’s bullet or whether his fatal shot was self-inflicted. Gulley was injured in the arm and later released from a medical facility in Thomasville, Alabama.
Nicholson worked in Wilcox County for four decades. He started as a reserve assistant in 1981 and later became a police officer. More recently, Nicholson was a process server.
“He and I have worked together for the past 30 years,” said Evans. “He was an outgoing person. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him.”
Law enforcement in the region shared a wave of love and support for the slain deputy on social media. Dozens of officers surrendered Thursday to send Nicolson home.
“It is an honor for us to be able to provide an escort,” said Wood.
This article originally appeared in the Pensacola News Journal: Alabama MP killed in shooting escorted home by Pensacola officers