lawandorder
Member
Visited with our gracious host on the phone last night and was telling him a little bit about this incident. I think if I recall right it has been mentioned before on the forum but here is a bit more about it with an image.
Graphic image enclosed!
On January the 2nd 1932 a mixed posse of Officers from the Greene County Sheriff's Office, and the Springfield, Missouri Police Department set out to arrest two wanted fugitives on the outskirts of Springfield.
Harry and Jennings Young were Boxcar burglars, car thieves, and just general all around thugs when they stepped up a notch on June the 2nd 1929. As they were riding through the town of Republic Missouri the City Marshal, Mark Noe flagged them down and arrested them. He entered their car and directed them toward the jail. A few block later he was shot, killed and tossed out of the car. The brothers lit out for Texas.
On this cold Ozark day in January of 32 information was received that the brothers had run a couple of stolen automobiles up to their family farmhouse.
Sheriff Marcel Hendrix, and Chief of Detectives Tony Oliver put together 10 Officers to make the raid on the Young farmhouse.
Deputies Wiley Mashburn and Ollie Crosswhite, along with S.P.D. Officers, Sid Meadows, Charlie Houser, Frank Pike, Virgil Johnson,Ben Bilyeu, Owen brown and civilian R. G Wegman made up the group.
They were only armed with their service sidearms, one tear gas gun, and few if any extra ammo or reloads.
When they arrived there was no sign of life around the house, and no one responded to their calls to exit the structure. Some of the group went to the rear of the house, and Sheriff Hendrix followed by Mashburn entered the kitchen door. They were met by gunfire which killed the Sheriff, and mortally wounded the Deputy.
The other Officers began returning fire from various positions around the structure, but deadly accurate fire from the house brought the Officers down one by one. Chief Oliver sent Officers back to get more ammo and reinforcements.
Johnson, Brown, Bilyeu,Pike, and the civilian Wegman pulled back. All 4 of these Officer were wounded. The six Officers still at the scene were all dead when they returned with reinforcements.
The brothers had slipped away. A massive manhunt was launched, and information soon pointed back to Texas. A man in Houston reported that he had rented a room in his home at 4710 Walker Avenue to two men who might be the fugitives.
Houston P.D. Officers surrounded the house on January 5th, and called for the men to surrender. They retreated into a bath room and exchanged gunfire with the Officers. After a short lull another flurry of shots sounded inside the room and a voice called "Come on in We are Dead".
When the Officers led by Claude Beverly forced the door open the brothers were lying on the floor Jennings was dead and Harry died shortly after. They were surrounded by guns taken from the dead Officers in Missouri including one Third model hand ejector with jig bone grips seen in the following image.
Caution Graphic Image below...........
Many artifacts including some of the guns are on display at the Museum located on the campus of the College of the Ozarks in Hollister Missouri.
A lot of folks claim the modern Officer Survival movement began with the Newhall incident in California but this event probably started it.
Graphic image enclosed!
On January the 2nd 1932 a mixed posse of Officers from the Greene County Sheriff's Office, and the Springfield, Missouri Police Department set out to arrest two wanted fugitives on the outskirts of Springfield.
Harry and Jennings Young were Boxcar burglars, car thieves, and just general all around thugs when they stepped up a notch on June the 2nd 1929. As they were riding through the town of Republic Missouri the City Marshal, Mark Noe flagged them down and arrested them. He entered their car and directed them toward the jail. A few block later he was shot, killed and tossed out of the car. The brothers lit out for Texas.
On this cold Ozark day in January of 32 information was received that the brothers had run a couple of stolen automobiles up to their family farmhouse.
Sheriff Marcel Hendrix, and Chief of Detectives Tony Oliver put together 10 Officers to make the raid on the Young farmhouse.
Deputies Wiley Mashburn and Ollie Crosswhite, along with S.P.D. Officers, Sid Meadows, Charlie Houser, Frank Pike, Virgil Johnson,Ben Bilyeu, Owen brown and civilian R. G Wegman made up the group.
They were only armed with their service sidearms, one tear gas gun, and few if any extra ammo or reloads.
When they arrived there was no sign of life around the house, and no one responded to their calls to exit the structure. Some of the group went to the rear of the house, and Sheriff Hendrix followed by Mashburn entered the kitchen door. They were met by gunfire which killed the Sheriff, and mortally wounded the Deputy.
The other Officers began returning fire from various positions around the structure, but deadly accurate fire from the house brought the Officers down one by one. Chief Oliver sent Officers back to get more ammo and reinforcements.
Johnson, Brown, Bilyeu,Pike, and the civilian Wegman pulled back. All 4 of these Officer were wounded. The six Officers still at the scene were all dead when they returned with reinforcements.
The brothers had slipped away. A massive manhunt was launched, and information soon pointed back to Texas. A man in Houston reported that he had rented a room in his home at 4710 Walker Avenue to two men who might be the fugitives.
Houston P.D. Officers surrounded the house on January 5th, and called for the men to surrender. They retreated into a bath room and exchanged gunfire with the Officers. After a short lull another flurry of shots sounded inside the room and a voice called "Come on in We are Dead".
When the Officers led by Claude Beverly forced the door open the brothers were lying on the floor Jennings was dead and Harry died shortly after. They were surrounded by guns taken from the dead Officers in Missouri including one Third model hand ejector with jig bone grips seen in the following image.
Caution Graphic Image below...........

Many artifacts including some of the guns are on display at the Museum located on the campus of the College of the Ozarks in Hollister Missouri.
A lot of folks claim the modern Officer Survival movement began with the Newhall incident in California but this event probably started it.