Officer C. Lee Waller

C. Lee Waller

Officer C. Lee Waller succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained two days earlier after he and his partner were ambushed by a suspect at 12th Street and Rusk Street.

The two officers were on foot patrol in the Acre section of the city when they encountered two gamblers on the sidewalk. One of the men left the scene and obtained a pistol. Later in the evening, he ambushed the two officers, and shot Officer Waller four times.

The suspect was apprehended in Big Springs and convicted of capital murder. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in 1895, and he received a full pardon in 1902.

Officer Waller had been with the Fort Worth Police Department for 2 years. He is buried in Hico Cemetery, Hico, Hamilton County, Texas.