Special Agent Ralph Robinson

Ralph Robinson

Special Agent Ralph Robinson was shot and killed while confronting coal thieves on a train near the Rock Island yards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, shortly after 1:00 a.m.

It is believed that he had placed at least one burglar under arrest and was walking him to the police station when he was shot by another gunman. Agent Robinson was shot three times with a .38 caliber handgun and his body was found in the morning by a railroad employee. 112 people were taken into custody the following day during a massive search for the killers.

The suspect, 26, was eventually arrested after fleeing to Texas from Oklahoma. The suspect bragged to a girlfriend that he had killed a railroad agent in Oklahoma. When the girlfriend's father learned of the murder he alerted Texas authorities who arrested the suspect and returned him to Oklahoma. On September 16, 1926, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life.

Agent Robinson was employed by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Police Department for about one year, and was survived by his wife and child.