Deputy Sheriff D. Tom Smith

D. Tom Smith

Deputy Smith was shot and killed when he intervened in a robbery at a mercantile store in Bisbee. Five suspects arrived at the store. Two of them entered and three of them stayed outside and began firing their weapons to keep people away from the store. Three civilians were shot and killed as a result. Deputy Smith, hearing the shots, approached the scene and told the suspects he was a peace officer, but he was also shot and killed. The five suspects escaped but were eventually apprehended and hanged for the murder.

A sixth man, who was determined to be an insider on the posse that was sent to arrest them, was also arrested but hanged by a mob before he could be tried.