1939 – SHOOT-OUT AT CANNEL COAL GAP

It what was described by public officials as a continuation of a wave of crime and violence, four Johnson County men, including a deputy sheriff, were killed and three others were wounded at Sambo’s Place near Cannel Coal Gap, on September 16, 1939.

The gun battle took place about three miles south of Paintsville on the Mayo Trail at a road house known as Sambo’s Place, owned and operated by Sambo Nelson.  News accounts at the time reported that the fight began when Eddie Sammons and Willie Fannin resurrected an old grudge.  Sammons, a former constable, had previously arrested Fannin and “bad feelings” had existed between the two ever since.

Hobart Fannin, a brother of Willie Fannin, reportedly knocked Sammons unconscious by striking him on the head with a beer bottle.  At this point, Deputy Sheriff Fred Adams and Sambo Nelson escorted the Fannin brothers outside to the porch of the beer parlor where the shooting began.

Nelson was killed instantly, according to accounts at the time.  Deputy Adams shot one of the Fannins and Hobart Fannin stated that Sammons shot him. When the affray was over, Sambo Nelson, Willie Fannin and Fred Adams lay dead.  Hobart Fannin was rushed to the Paintsville Hospital where he died the following morning.

Sambo Nelson’s wife was wounded in the arm while her daughter lost the tip of her little finger to a stray bullet and her son was wounded in the hand.

In all, over 45 shots were fired during the gun battle.  Deputy Adams emptied his .45 although mortally wounded, then pulled a .38 Special and continued firing before walking back into the beer parlor where he died.

The bodies were brought to the Paintsville Furniture Company (which also served as a funeral home) and prepared for burial.  Traffic on Mayo Trail was blocked for several hours after the shooting.

Sammons was arrested and charged with the murder of Hobart Fannin.

The Cannel Coal Gap shooting topped a week of violence which included several armed robberies, an assault and rape, and the killing of a man by his daughter.  So aroused were local leaders that a meeting was held in which Circuit Judge J. F. Bailey, County Judge Claude Buckingham and a host of civic and business leaders conferred about ways to bring the lawlessness to a halt.  A committee was formed and law enforcement efforts were tightened but there appeared to be little reduction in the local crime wave.