mikepriwer
SWCA Member
Special to The New York Times
Shreveport, La., May 23 -- Clyde Barrow, notorious Texas "bad man" and murderer, and his cigar-smoking, quick-shooting woman accomplice, Bonnie Parker, were ambushed and shot to death today in an encounter with Texas Rangers and Sheriff's deputies.
The 24-year-old desperado, who was accused of twelve murders in the last two years, and his companion whizzed along a little-traveled, paved road near Gibsland, about fifty miles east of here, at eighty-five miles an hour in a high-speed gray automobile, rushing into a carefully-laid death trap.
Before they could use any of the weapons in the small arsenal they had with them, the Rangers and others in the posse riddled them and their car with a deadly hail of bullets.
The onrushing machine, with the dead man at the wheel, careened crazily for an instant and then catapulted into an embankment. While the wheels of the wrecked machine still whirled, the officers, taking no chances with the gunman who had tricked them so often, poured another volley of bullets into the machine.
Both Died Holding Guns
A moment later the uproar in the otherwise peaceful countryside spot had subsided and the officers swarmed over to the car. They found that Barrow and Bonnie had died with weapons in their hands, prepared to kill at the slightest alarm. The woman was crumpled up on the seat, her head between her knees and a machine gun in her lap. Marrow, a smear of red, wet rags, had been clutching a sawed-off shotgun in one hand as he drove.
The car proved to be a traveling arsenal. In it the officers found three submachine guns, six automatic pistols, one revolver, two sawed-off automatic shotguns and enough ammunition for a siege.
Governor O. K. Allen of Louisiana congratulated Sheriff Anderson Jordan of Bienville Parish, where Barrow and the Parker woman were killed, when he was informed of the details today.
The so-called "Public Enemy No. 1 of the Southwest," a mere hoodlum in Dallas up to 1930, met his end in an ambush that had been planned carefully by Frank Hamer, a former captain in the Texas Rangers, who had clung to Barrow's trail for years.
Hamer, who was recently commissioned as a highway patrolman for the special purpose of getting his man, as well as his gunwoman, trailed Barrow into Bossier Parish, where the criminal was said to have relatives.
It was reported that Hamer had received a tip as to Barrow's whereabouts from the father of a convict who recently escaped from a Texas penitentiary. The father, a resident of Louisiana, whispered the word to the authorities in the hope of winning clemency for his son.
Several weeks ago Hamer and his fellow officers barely missed the couple at a hide-out at Black Lake. Since then, the Rangers and Sheriff's deputies charted the highways that had been frequented by the pair and then quietly adopted a scheme of watchful waiting.
Once again Hamer picked up a "red-hot" clue to Barrow's trail, this time in Bossier Parish. He anticipated that the outlaw and his woman friend would head west toward Texas. Hamer, a Ranger associate, Sheriff Jordan and his men raced ahead to a point on the highway where they got an unobstructed view of the road. There they hid and waited.
Shortly after 9 A.M. the lookouts recognized the eight-cylinder sedan approaching at terrific speed. Some of the officers coolly walked out into the roadway, motioning and shouting for the driver to halt, while those in the ambuscade trained their weapons on the criminals.
Barrow answered by stepping on the accelerator and reaching for a sawed-off shotgun. In a split second the officers of the law, spurred by the knowledge of Barrow's ruthlessness, opened up their death-dealing barrage.
The first volley appeared to have the effect of a bolt of lightning, and the uncontrolled car shot with its topmost speed into the embankment. The law had settled its score with Barrow and his quick-shooting woman accomplice.
Posted by Mike Priwer
Shreveport, La., May 23 -- Clyde Barrow, notorious Texas "bad man" and murderer, and his cigar-smoking, quick-shooting woman accomplice, Bonnie Parker, were ambushed and shot to death today in an encounter with Texas Rangers and Sheriff's deputies.
The 24-year-old desperado, who was accused of twelve murders in the last two years, and his companion whizzed along a little-traveled, paved road near Gibsland, about fifty miles east of here, at eighty-five miles an hour in a high-speed gray automobile, rushing into a carefully-laid death trap.
Before they could use any of the weapons in the small arsenal they had with them, the Rangers and others in the posse riddled them and their car with a deadly hail of bullets.
The onrushing machine, with the dead man at the wheel, careened crazily for an instant and then catapulted into an embankment. While the wheels of the wrecked machine still whirled, the officers, taking no chances with the gunman who had tricked them so often, poured another volley of bullets into the machine.
Both Died Holding Guns
A moment later the uproar in the otherwise peaceful countryside spot had subsided and the officers swarmed over to the car. They found that Barrow and Bonnie had died with weapons in their hands, prepared to kill at the slightest alarm. The woman was crumpled up on the seat, her head between her knees and a machine gun in her lap. Marrow, a smear of red, wet rags, had been clutching a sawed-off shotgun in one hand as he drove.
The car proved to be a traveling arsenal. In it the officers found three submachine guns, six automatic pistols, one revolver, two sawed-off automatic shotguns and enough ammunition for a siege.
Governor O. K. Allen of Louisiana congratulated Sheriff Anderson Jordan of Bienville Parish, where Barrow and the Parker woman were killed, when he was informed of the details today.
The so-called "Public Enemy No. 1 of the Southwest," a mere hoodlum in Dallas up to 1930, met his end in an ambush that had been planned carefully by Frank Hamer, a former captain in the Texas Rangers, who had clung to Barrow's trail for years.
Hamer, who was recently commissioned as a highway patrolman for the special purpose of getting his man, as well as his gunwoman, trailed Barrow into Bossier Parish, where the criminal was said to have relatives.
It was reported that Hamer had received a tip as to Barrow's whereabouts from the father of a convict who recently escaped from a Texas penitentiary. The father, a resident of Louisiana, whispered the word to the authorities in the hope of winning clemency for his son.
Several weeks ago Hamer and his fellow officers barely missed the couple at a hide-out at Black Lake. Since then, the Rangers and Sheriff's deputies charted the highways that had been frequented by the pair and then quietly adopted a scheme of watchful waiting.
Once again Hamer picked up a "red-hot" clue to Barrow's trail, this time in Bossier Parish. He anticipated that the outlaw and his woman friend would head west toward Texas. Hamer, a Ranger associate, Sheriff Jordan and his men raced ahead to a point on the highway where they got an unobstructed view of the road. There they hid and waited.
Shortly after 9 A.M. the lookouts recognized the eight-cylinder sedan approaching at terrific speed. Some of the officers coolly walked out into the roadway, motioning and shouting for the driver to halt, while those in the ambuscade trained their weapons on the criminals.
Barrow answered by stepping on the accelerator and reaching for a sawed-off shotgun. In a split second the officers of the law, spurred by the knowledge of Barrow's ruthlessness, opened up their death-dealing barrage.
The first volley appeared to have the effect of a bolt of lightning, and the uncontrolled car shot with its topmost speed into the embankment. The law had settled its score with Barrow and his quick-shooting woman accomplice.
Posted by Mike Priwer
