A quick-thinking prison guard, whose actions saved lives almost 40 years ago, was honored Tuesday morning by Atmore Community Hospital and the city of Atmore.

Earl King was a 43-year-old guard at Holman Prison in 1976, when prisoners were still occasionally taken to Greenlawn Hospital for medical treatment. King and another guard, Ed Sellers, were transporting an inmate to the hospital on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1976, when tragedy almost occurred.

According to reports of the incident, acquaintances of the inmate, Calvin W. Evans, had left a gun in one of the hospital’s bathrooms. After Evans arrived at the hospital for treatment, he managed to retrieve the gun and shot Sellers in the back after ordering him to lie on the floor.

King was standing outside the room and responded by firing several shots at Evans, knocking the gun out of his hands. Sellers was injured, but survived. No other people were hurt.

On Tuesday, King — now 85 years old — was a patient at ACH and hospital staff and city officials took advantage of it. ACH Administrator Bill Perkins presented him with a plaque of appreciation, and Greg Vaughn of the city of Atmore presented King with a city proclamation thanking him for his efforts.

“On behalf of the boards of Greenlawn Hospital and Atmore Community Hospital, I just want to congratulate and thank you today for your actions that saved many lives,” Perkins said.

Surrounded by his family members, including his sons Danny and Don, King said Tuesday that he was trying to keep others safe when the incident occurred.

“I wanted the doctors and the nurses out of the way before any shot was fired,” he said. “I still remember that day pretty good.”

Danny King said his father knew something was amiss when Evans was overly anxious to go to the bathroom as soon as he arrived at the hospital that day. Earl King said he just wanted to be sure that nobody was hurt.

“I saw the guard [Sellers] lying on the floor and just did what I was trained to do,” he said.
King also thanked the ACH staff and employees for treating him well during his time.

“I just appreciate everyone,” he said. “The nurses and the way I’ve been treated at the hospital have been wonderful.”

Even on a day of honor and remembrance, King still showed a light-hearted reaction to that fateful day.

“Calvin told me that day, ‘I want you to kill me,’” he said. “I said, ‘I sure tried.’”

Several days after the incident, Greenlawn Hospital announced it would no longer treat prisoners, except in “life or death” cases.