Officer Down

Police Officer Donald Carpenter was shot and killed while responding to a burglary in progress at a motel at the intersection of South Congress Avenue and Annie Street.

As officers surrounded the building the suspect yelled that he was going to come out and surrender. He instead opened fire with a .32 caliber revolver, striking Officer Carpenter as he exited his patrol car and seriously wounding a second officer. Officer Carpenter succumbed to his injuries two days later.

The subject fled the scene after shooting the officers and remained at large for two weeks. After his arrest he told officers he had thrown the revolver into Lake Austin, where it was located after a four day search.

In October of 1964 the man, 30, was convicted of Officer Carpenter’s murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He was paroled in 1984. On March 24, 1999, he was arrested in Austin for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Officer Carpenter was survived by his wife and two daughters.

In 2016 an Austin city street was renamed in honor of Officer Carpenter.

Police Officer Walter Tucker was struck by another vehicle at Monroe Street and South Congress Avenue while riding his police motorcycle during traffic patrol.

He had served with the Austin Police Department for two years. He was survived by his wife, mother, father, sister, and two brothers.

Police Officer Elkins Morrison was struck by a vehicle at 11 p.m. in the 300 block of Congress Avenue while attempting to cross during foggy conditions. He was on detective duty when he was hit. Officer Morrison was taken to Brackenridge Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries at 3:55 a.m.

Officer Morrison served with the Austin Police Department for five years and is was survived by his wife and three children.

Police Officer James Cummings was responding to a shots-fired call when his motorcycle struck another vehicle at 14th Street and Red River Road.

Despite efforts by his partner and the occupants of the car to carry Officer Cummings to nearby Brackenridge Hospital, he died almost instantly.

Officer Cummings was the second motorcycle officer to be killed in less than two months.

Sergeant Stuart succumbed to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. He was struck by a vehicle while attempting to apprehend a speeder in the south 1800 block of Congress Avenue. The driver of the car was charged with negligent homicide.

Chief Littlepage was shot and killed while trying to stop a man who had just murdered two women with a shotgun and was on a shooting spree in town.

As Chief Littlepage cut off the suspect’s escape he was shot twice in the abdomen in the 2500 block of Wilson Street while trying to talk the suspect into surrendering. The suspect then fled to a house where he killed a carpenter working outside the home. The gunman then barricaded himself inside another house and committed suicide as police closed in.

Police Officer Thomas Allen was shot and killed by the editor of a black newspaper in San Antonio during a dispute about articles the editor had written. The reporter wrote several articles that Officer Allen had mistreated women during arrests. The journalist met Officer Allen at Jennings Drug Store in the 400 block of East Sixth Street and shot him following an earlier confrontation at a nearby wagon yard.

Officer Allen was part of Austin’s Mounted Patrol and was the city’s second African-American lawman. He was reportedly killed 30 feet from where Officer John Gaines had been killed in 1913.

Officer Allen is buried in Round Rock Cemetery, Williamson County, Texas.

Officer Allen served with the Austin Police Department for less than two years.

Police Officer John Gaines was shot and killed while waiting for backup during the arrest of a drunk deputy constable at East Sixth and Trinity streets. At the time, white suspects could only be arrested by white officers. Officer Gaines was waiting for a white officer to arrive to make the arrest.

The suspect was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison.

Officer Gaines was the first African-American policeman in Austin and was survived by his wife.

Police Officer Cornelius Fahey was shot through the abdomen and killed by a drunk subject on Congress Avenue between midnight and 1 a.m.

The suspect fled the scene on horseback but was later apprehended several miles away. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years. He died in prison.

Officer Fahey is the first Austin police officer known to have died in the line of duty. He was survived by his wife and child.