John Shaw was a Quantity Surveyor and served as a Special Constable in the City of Glasgow Police, stationed at ‘G’ (Govan) Division. He lived in Kilvaxter Drive, Arden, Glasgow.
On 12 November 1965, Special Constable Shaw was returning home from duty and alighted from a bus on Nitshill Road, a short walk to his home. As he alighted from the bus, some members of the public indicated a man standing nearby and said that he had a gun and that he had shot two men in a nearby public house. S.C. Shaw moved towards the man but the man pulled a shotgun from his coat and fired, the projectiles narrowly missing the officer. The man ran off, chased by S.C. Shaw, and he turned around and fired a second time, again narrowly missing the constable. The man then made good his escape.
Other officers arrived and S.C. Shaw gave a description of the gunman, and he was later arrested.
For his bravery Special Constable Shaw was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct and the Glasgow Corporation Medal for Bravery. He later progressed to the rank of Special Inspector in Strathclyde Police and before his retiral in 1999, he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, the first member of the Special Constabulary in the U.K. to receive such an award.
He was later a valued member of staff in The Glasgow Police Museum and died in 2009.