Madison ’Skip’ Nicholson was a 78-year-old retired Wilcox County deputy who was serving as a constable when he was fatally shot on the evening of Wednesday, December 1, 2021. Nicholson and Wilcox County Chief Deputy Trenton Gulley had responded to a domestic violence call from a woman who reported a man threatening her. When they arrived, 52-year-old Billy Bizzell emerged from the home and opened fire on the two deputies.

Both officers were struck. Nicholson sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and neck and was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, where he was pronounced dead. Deputy Gulley was shot in the arm but survived. Bizzell was shot and killed during the exchange; the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency led the investigation.

Nicholson was a long-serving local lawman whose decades of service made him a well-known figure in the roughly 10,000-person Wilcox County community. If anyone witnessed the December 1 incident or has information about that night, please share what is known.