The shootout that claimed the most Officers in U.S. L.E. History

lawandorder

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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...........











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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.
 
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The old farmhouse is just off of hazeltine rd.(fm115) on the western outskirts of Springfield.
 
At one time I owned Frank Pike's badge from when he later served as Chief of Police of Springfield.

His Father served the folks of Eureka Springs Arkansas as Chief of Police in the late 1800s.
 
I remember reading a Massad Ayoob article on this a few years ago. One of the brothers was armed with a Remington Model 25 pump rifle in 25-20. Not exactly a "man stopper" powerhouse cartridge. It was used to great effect by these animals. The officers thought they were safe in the yard behind the large trees. They were sniped one by one while waiting for help.
 
The Smith in the old newspaper image above............

............was at a Museum yesterday and snapped an image of the revolver pictured above. It is a Third model HE .44 Special with a 5 inch barrel. It was taken from from the body of Deputy Sheriff Wiley Mashburn by the Young brothers and later used in their suicide in Houston.

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They also took Sheriff Marcel Hendrix's .44 Special from his body.

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There was another LE shootout that doesn't get much press, it's called the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Darkest Day. In 1978 two convicts tunneled out of the state prison in McAlester, OK and stole a prison car and then went to a guards home and stole his riot shotgun, handguns, and a bunch of ammo. They then killed or wounded several people in several states including an Alabama police officer. They returned to Oklahoma an killed 3 OHP officers with shotgun and rifle fire and the OHP didn't issue rifles at that time to their troopers. Shortly after that incident the OHP started issuing Mini-14s to each Trooper and I think they were one of the first law enforcement organizations to make rifles and rifle training standard procedure.
 
Looks like the image is reversed like the famous photo of Billy the Kid. A tragic event. I can only imagine what happened to the slain officers' and civilian's families after their murders in 1932. The loss goes far beyond the deaths.
 
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Thanks, Tony. I always enjoy your bits of LE history and this was an important one in the evolution of officer training.

The next Dallas Mkt. Hall show is Feb. 28-Mar. 1. Hope you can come down for it. Bring some of those old Ark. guns and I'll make room for them on the tables.

Bob
 
Well as with Smith & Wessons there is not always certainty........

................with history. I recently ran on to the history of an incident in Alabama where 6 Law Enforcement Offices were killed in a single shooting.

God Bless these Officers for their service and sacrifice.




On April 6, 1902

Sheriff Charles Gassaway of Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama

End of Watch: Sunday, April 6, 1902

Cause: Gunfire

Incident Date: 4/6/1902

Weapon: Rifle; Winchester

Suspect: Shot and killed

Sheriff Gassaway and five deputies were shot and killed after attempting to arrest a suspect.

Sheriff Charles Gassaway and five Colbert County deputies were shot and killed when the sheriff attempted to arrest a suspect for obtaining goods under false pretenses. The suspect informed the sheriff that he would be ready to go in a moment but arrived at the door with a Winchester rifle. The suspect immediately shot Sheriff Gassaway, who was in the doorway, and the sheriff's brother, Deputy William Gassaway, who was standing a distance away.

The suspect then barricaded himself in the house as other deputies arrived at the scene. Firing from inside the house, the suspect shot and mortally wounded Deputy Bob Wallace, Deputy Pat Prout, Deputy James Payne, and Deputy Jesse Davis.

The suspect was eventually shot and killed after members of the the Alabama state militia, known as the Wheeler Rifles, shot over 1,000 rounds at the suspect.

Other Members were:

Deputy Sheriff Pat A. Prout
Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
End of Watch: Monday, April 7, 1902
Cause: Gunfire

Deputy Sheriff James Payne
Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
End of Watch: Monday, April 7, 1902
Cause: Gunfire

Deputy Sheriff William Gassaway (Brother to Charles)
Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
End of Watch: Monday, April 7, 1902
Cause: Gunfire

Deputy Sheriff Jesse Davis
Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
End of Watch: Monday, April 7, 1902
Cause: Gunfire

Deputy Sheriff Bob Wallace
Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
End of Watch: Monday, April 7, 1902
Cause: Gunfire

Read more: Sheriff Charles Gassaway, Colbert County Sheriff's Department, Alabama
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An informative thread; sadly, there seems to be no compunction on the part of criminals in the US in murdering police
 
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